THE  UNIVERSITY 

OT  ILLINOIS 

LIBRARY 

5 


iiiK-:  r"*'"1 


ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


s.e.^^ 


ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

A  MEMOIR 


BY 

MARY  H.   PORTER 


Published  for  the  benefit  of  the   Oberlin   Missionary  Home 
Association,  Oberlin,  Ohio. 


Fleming  H.  Revell  Company, 

I1CAGO:  I  NBWYOl 

>  Mill   on  St.  3oUnionSq 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


CHICAGO:  NEW  YORK: 

148  and  150  Madison  St.  30  Union  Square.  East 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year   1892 

By  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington  D.C. 


>N 


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<J 


73 


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TO  MY  FATHER. 


WHOSE  DAILY  LIFE  TAUGHT  HIS  CHILDREN  THE  DEEPER 
MEANING  OF  THE  WORDS  "OUR  FATHER"  AND  WHOSE 
TENDER  LOVE     WAS    THE     ATMOSPHERE,    ILLU- 
MINED BY  THE  SUN    OF    RIGHTEOUSNESS,    IN 
WHICH  SHE  OF  WHOM  THESE  PAGES  TELL, 
LIVED  FOR  MORE  THAN  FIFTY  YEARS, 
THEY  ARE  DEDICATED  BY. 

HIS  DAUGHTER. 


865917 


Where  one  wishes  to  secure  th<  portrait  of  a  Mend, 
Beksan  artist,  with  power  to  see,  andyel  rarer 
power  to  reproduce,  with  skilled  hand,  thai  which  he 
Far  more  would  one  desire  for  the  \\  i  i t  i 1 1 u.  ol 
the  life  history  of  a  beloved  one,  trained  literary 
workmanship.  So  I  could  wish,  that  someone  accus- 
tomed to  word-painting. having  .-it  once  true  c pre- 

hensloD  and  delicate  touch  might  have  been  found  to 

place  the  Story  recorded  here,  in  permanent  form.  No 
such  hand  was  ready  for  the  task  and  I  have,  with 
great  hesitation,  essayed  it;  and  now  send  out  the 
little  volume  conscious  of  its  Inadequacy,  yet  hop- 
ing that  it  may  recall  to  those  who  knew  and 
loved  Mrs.  Porter  the  rare  sweet  personality  which 
it  can  neither  describe  nor  reproduce.  "The  equipoise 
of  her  belief  and  conduct,  stamped  on  the  mind,  a  sense 
of  the  nearness,  the  reality,  and  power  of  God  in  the 
soul.'1  If  anything  of  her  true  life  lies  inthesepages,  so 
that  they  carry  forward  in  any  degree  this  ministry 
of  her  earthly  service,  now  that  she  has  passed  into  the 
heavenly,  they  will  fulfill  the  largest  hope  of  the  filial 
affection  which  has  prompted  their  compilation. 

it  is  fitting  that  she  who  so  Loved  children,  to 
whom  those  separated  in  youth  from  their  parents, 
peculiarly  appealed,  should  i>e  linked  with  the  effort 
now  making  to  secure  a  suitable  home  for  the  chil- 
dren of  foreign  missionaries  who  come  to  this  coun- 
try for  education.  These  memoirs  are  therefore  pub- 
lished at  her  husband's  expense  that  all  proceeds  from 

their  sale  maybe  given  to  the  Missionary  Home  Associ- 
ation of  Oberlin.Ohio. 

M.  H.  P. 
Be  hit,  Oct.    ijt/i,  i8q2. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE  9-21 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

Ancestry — "Birth —  Death  of  Father— Separation  from 
Mother— Franklin  Some— Brother  Joseph — Mrs  Chap- 
pel— Early  religious  experience — Rochester  school  life 
—Teaching— Association  with  Mrs.  Spencer— Illness— 
Sources  of  Information. 

CHAPTER  II. 

PAGE  22-31 

RELIGIOUS   EXPERIENCE   AND   associations 
Story   Ol   renewed   Uf<  —  Rochester    Associations— In- 
fant shool  teaching — Bishop  Whitehouse— Dr.  Finney 

—  Mr.  and  Mrs    liurchard — Dr.  .James— Mrs.  GhappeTs 
death. 

CHAPTER  III. 

PAGE  32-42 

EARLY    JOURNALS— BEGINmNG    OF    WORK  ON    THE   FRON- 
TIER. 

<  >ld  Manuscripts—  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loomis—  Mackinaw- 
Mission—  Mr.    and  Mrs.  Robert   Stuart—  Kededication 

—Rules  and  regulations  of  life. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGE  43-65 

MACKINAW  JOURNALS  1882. 
Mr.   and  Mrs     Mitchell — Fort   Holmes — RumOTS  of  In- 
dian outbreaks— Cholera— Mr.  Ayer — Indian  bromRice 
Lake— Physical  Infirmities. 

V 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V. 

PAGE  66-80 
TRIP  TO  NEW   YORK  TO  SECURE   TEACHERS  FOR   THE  INDI- 
AN COUNTRY. 

Failing  health— Thursday  evening  prayer  meeting- 
Leaving  Mackinaw— Tedious  voyage— Detroit — Among 
old  friends— Utica—  New  York— Chappel  Infant  School 
Society. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE  80-90 
RETURN  TO  MACKINAW  1833. 

Return  trip— Visit  at  Perrysburg— Return  to  Mackinaw 
CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE  92-99 
OPENING  OF  WORK   AT  POINT  ST.  IGNACE. 

Miss.  Owen — Miss.  Plimpton — Missionaries  of  the  In- 
dian Country — Work  at  St.  Ignace — Degradation  of 
people— Leaving  Mackinaw— Arrival  in  Chicago. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE  IOO-IIO 

SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO. 

Opening  of  School— Boarding  department— Normal 
pupils— Religious  awakening— Communion  Service — 
Trip  to  Mackinaw— Miss  Grant  of  Ipswich. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE  III-126 
MARRIAGE  AND  MOTHERHOOD. 

Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter — Early  life  and  education — 
Work  in  Sault  Ste  Marie — Arrival  in  Chicago— Peoria 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Cross— Birth  and  death  of  first  child— Eli- 
jah Lovejoy— Mr.  Porter's  illness— Removal  to  Farm- 
ington— Call  to  Green  Bay— The  journey  with  sick 
child — Hadley  cousins — Arrival  at  Green  Bay — Death 
of  infant. 

m  CHAPTER  X. 

PAGE  127-I46 
GREEN  BAY  LIFE.      THE  HOME  AND  THE  PARISH, 

The  old  house— The  playground— Neighbors— Do- 
mestic arrangements— Early  separation  from  children 


CONTENTS  vii 

—Number  in  household — Country  parishioners— Un- 
derground Railway  Service— Home  Incidents  and 
habits— Mr. and  Mrs.  Tank. 

CHAPTEB  XI. 

PAGE  147-156 

THE    SCHOOL    IN    THE    COURT    HOUSE.      HOME     LIFE     AND 
OTHER  INTERESTS. 

School  and  household  arrangements- -Family  life — 

Love  Of  the  Bible — Juvenile  Missionary  Society — lloinc 
Missionary  boxes — Leaving  (ireen  J'>ay. 

(  HAPTER  XII. 

PAGE  I57-I6I 

THE    CHICAGO     PARISH     1858—1861.      BEREAVMENT.      THE 
WAR. 

The  Edward's  chapel— Chicago  home — Death  of  Ro- 
bert. Of  Charlotte — Silver  Wedding— The  opening  of  the 
war. 

(HAPTER  XIII. 

PAGE    l62-l86 

NORTHWESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION.       WORK     IN     THE 
ARMY. 

"Our branch  and  its  Tributaries" — A  Sabbath  Service 
with  the  fugitives — Cairo — Mound  City — Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke  and  Mrs.  Porter— Fort  Pickering— Diet  Kitchen- 
School  at  Shiloh — A  correspondence — Every  day  life  at 
the  Fort — Influence  with  the  men — Return  to  the  North 
— In  Chicago  office — First  effort  to  secure  furloughs  for 
(■< nivaleKeents — Corinth — Vicksburg — Letter  from  Mrs 
Bickerdyke. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE    1S7-209 

REPORTS  MADE  TO    SANITARY  COMMISSION. 

Field  hospitals—  "Mother Bickerdyke" — Harrowing 
scenes— Mole  train— Value  of  Sanitary  Stores— Resaca 

—  Kingston— Deserted  confederate  hospital—  Amputa- 
ted Cai 

CHAPTEB  XV 

PAGE2IO-223 

ai:.mv  work  CONTINUED. 
Thoughtful     care— Military     Pass  —  Marietta  —  Mr. 


viii  CONTENTS 

James  Porter's  escape — Testimonials  from  Confeder- 
ates—Trip to  Arkansas— Letters  to  President  Lincoln- 
Louisville  —  The  remanded  steamer  —  Texas  —  Rio 
Grande  Seminary — Reception  in  Chicago. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGE  229-244 
PRAIRIE  DUCHIBN  AND  BROWNSVILLE. 

Family  events— The  new  house  and  parish— Letter 
with    regard    to    her    daughter — The    leaAetaking — 
Brownsville  —  The  Misses  Grant  — Letter  from  Mrs 
A.  H.  Smith  — Death   of  Mary  Tank— Ordination    uf 
Son— Fort  Sill. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

PAGE  246-262 
GARRISON  LIFE.    WORK  IN  AUSTIN,  TEXAS. 

Garrison  homes— Winters  in  Chicago  — The  first 
grand-child— Judge  Williams'  family— Mrs.  Tank's  be- 
nevolences—Fort Russell— Soldiers  under  arrest—  Re- 
turn and  marriage  of  H.  D.  P.— Family  reunion— Close 
of  army  life — First  visit  to  California  — Detroit  home 
—Winters  in  Texas— Story  of  work  there  by  Miss 
M.  J.  Adams— Porter  Chapel. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PAGE  263-279 

INDIAN  SUMMER. 

Golden  Wedding— Poem  by  H.  D.  P.— California  again 
—Return  of  daughter— Thanksgiving  at  Mr.  Blatch- 
ford's— "My  Birthday"— Tampa  — Letter  from  Mrs. 
Allen — A  summer  in  Beloit — Letter  from  Mrs.  Emerson 
—From  Mrs.  Chapin— Last  message  to  W.  B.  M.  I. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

PAGE  280-306 

THE  LAST  DAYS. 

"Abide  with  me,'— Last  visit  in  Chicago— Letters  to 
H.  D.  P.— Journey  to  California— Santa  Barbara— Let- 
ter to  Mrs.  Goble— Christmas  eve.— The  last  letter- 
Illness— '"The  victory  which  overcometh"— New  Years 
morning— Service  at  S  B— Letters  from  W.  B  M.  I.— 
Letter  from  H.  D.  P.— Memorial  services— Chicago — 
Austin— Pang  Chuang. 


CONTENTS 
CHAPTER  XX. 

page  262-334 
IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE   4ND  CHARACTER. 

sketch  by  Rev.  r.  B   Perkins— Extract  from  sermon 
by  Dr.  Littli — Letters— Prof.  Porter— Session  first  Pn  - 
byterian  Chnrch — President  Chapin— Dr.  Moses  Smith 
—Mrs.    M.    L.    Huntington  —  Rev.  8    E    Lathrop  — 
H.  T.  Cbappel— Prof   Emerson— Mrs.  Livermon  —  Mrs 

Henshaw— Rev.  and  Mrs.  E.  M.  Williams. 


APPENDIX. 

page  335 
MEMORIAL  SERVICES  IN  CHICAGO, 

Addresses  by  President  F.  W.  Fisk  D.  D.  and  Rev. 
John  Barrows  D.  D. 

page  347 
A   MESSAGE  TO  TIII2  WOMEN  OF  WISCONSIN. 

PAGE  350 

RELATION    TO     WOMEN'S     HOARD     OF     MISSIONS    OF     Till: 
INTERIOR.      MRS.  MOSES  SMITH. 

PAGE  352 

EXTRACT  FROM    ADVANCE   ACCOUNT  or    A    FRIDAY    MEET- 
ING OF  W.  B.  M.    I. 

page  355 
LETTER  FROM  MRS.  IWKERDIKE. 

"  "       A  WAGON   MASTER. 

PAGL  360 

A  REMARKABLE  LIFE. 


"They  that  wait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their 
strength ;  they  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles ; 
they  shall  run  and  not  be  weary;  they  shall  walk  and 
not  faint." 

Isaiah  40.  31. 


Eliza  Chappell  Porter 

CHAPTER  I 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

At  the  very  beginning  of  this  century  two  fami- 
lies came  from  Connecticut  to  Western  New  York, 
to  try  the  fortunes  of  the  then  new  country,  those 
of  Robert  Chappell  and  Timothy  Kneeland. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  this  Robert  Chappell 
was  descended  from  Des  Chappelles,  Huguenots 
banished  from  France  under  the  edict  of  Nantes 
in  1688,  who  found  refuge,  with  their  persecuted 
brethren,  in  England.  The  earliest  certain  record, 
however,  which  we  have  of  the  Chappell  family, 
is  of  the  coming  to  this  country  of  twin  brothers, 
Caleb  and  Joshua — fitly  named  as  the  searchers 
out  of  a  new  land — about  1750  from  Wales.  The 
latter  married  Abigail  Beattie,  who  became  the 
mother  of  another  Joshua  Chappell.  This  Joshua 
married     Bathsheba     Brewster,     a    great     grand- 


10  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

daughter  of  Elder  William  Brewster,  leader  of  the 
pilgrim  band  which  landed  in  Plymouth  in  1620 
She  was  the  mother  of  several  sons,  one  of  whom 
died  in  military  service  near  Bunker  Hill  during 
the  revolutionary  war,  and  two  others  were  lieu- 
tenants in  the  federal  army.  Of  these  two,  Robert 
married  a  daughter  of  a  physician  in  Marlboro, 
Conn.,  Dr.  Timothy  Kneeland,  one  of  whose  sons 
was  also  a  soldier.  Dr.  Kneeland  died  when  his 
eldest  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  about  sixteen 
years  of  age,  and  a  little  later  she  became  the  wife 
of  the  young  lieutenant,  whose  home  from  child- 
hood had  been  on  an  adjoining  farm.  After  some 
years  Mr.  Chappell  with  his  brother-in-law,  Timo- 
thy Kneeland,  and  their  households  emigrated  to 
Franklin  County,  New  York,  and  began  life  anew 
with  high  hopes  of  prosperity.  Some  defect  in 
the  land  titles,  however,  brought  great  loss  and 
disappointment,  and  led  Mr.  Chappell  to  seek 
another  place.  This  time  he  found  a  home  in  the 
rich  and  beautiful  valley  of  the  Genesee,  in  which 
many  of  his  descendants  are  still  living.  Here  at 
Geneseo,  on  the  5th  of  November,  1807,  his 
eighth  child,  Eliza  Emily,  was  born.  In  181 1  the 
father  died  leaving  one  son  younger  than  Eliza, 
and  four  sons  and  two  daughters  older  than  her- 
self. A  family  of  seven  for  the  widowed  mother  to 
care  for,  beside  the  eldest  married  daughter,  whose 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH  11 

home  was  always  open  to  them,  and  where  the 
mother  and  one  or  another  of  the  younger  children 
were  often  to  be  found.  Here  the  little  girl,  with 
blood  of  Huguenots  and  Pilgrims  in  her  veins, 
heard  from  her  mother  stories  of  a  heroic  past, 
and  dreamed  her  dreams  of  a  heroic  future.  She 
was  a  bonny  child,  plump  and  fair,  with  curling 
auburn  hair,  and  bright  grey  eyes,  deft  of  hand 
and  fleet  of  foot.  From  her  earliest  years  she 
knew  much  of  sorrow;  felt  it  most  keenly  as  it 
touched  those  dearest  to  her,  and  from  her  youth, 
scarcely  past  early  girlhood,  she  was  a  constant 
physical  sufferer.  But  she  knew  also,  oh!  so  well! 
the  "victory  which  overcometh"  and  so  she  became 
the  glad  undaunted,  bright-faced  woman  whom 
we  remember.  The  childhood  of  the  little  girl 
was  marked  by  a  few  events  of  which  she  spoke  so 
feelingly,  as  circumstances  arose  to  recall  them, 
that  the  depth  of  their  influence  impressed  every 
one  who  knew  her  intimately.  The  first  of  these 
was  the  death  of  her  father,  and  the  peculiar  close- 
ness of  her  sympathy  with  her  mother's  grief.  Al- 
though but  four  years  old,  this  sorrow  affected  her 
whole  life.  She  used  often  to  say:  UI  was  nursed 
in  a  widow's  bosom."  The  elder  daughters  were 
married  and  had  homes  of  their  own,  while  she, 
the  youngest,  was  left  with  the  lonely  mother  and, 
at  a    very  early    age    became    the    sharer  of    her 


12  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

anxieties  for  the  brothers,  and,  during  the  years 
when  most  children  are  busy  with  play,  she  was 
planning  how  to  "help  mother."  So  wise  was  the 
little  brain,  so  keen  the  judgment  that,  perhaps 
more  than  was  quite  wholesome  for  the  child,  or 
than  the  mother  realized,  she  was  permitted  to 
share  in  family  councils.  In  such  companionship 
she  not  only  had  glimpses  of  the  many  perplexities 
of  the  mature  life,  but  saw  also  how  by  faith  that 
mother  laid  hold  of  God's  promises,  and  how  real 
a  thing  was  the  intercourse  of  the  loyal  submissive 
soul  with  its  Heavenly  Father.  The  second  event 
which  marks  an  epoch  was  her  first  separation 
from  this  mother.  A  niece  of  Mrs.  Chappell's  of 
about  her  own  age,  a  Mrs.  Brower  of  Franklin, 
New  York,  came  on  a  visit  to  Geneseo  and  asked 
that  little  Eliza  might  return  with  her  to  her  home. 
Her  husband  was  a  prosperous  farmer,  they  had  a 
home  of  comfort,  for  that  time  of  luxury,  and  were 
anxious  to  adopt  the  bright  precocious  child,  as 
their  own.  The  widowed  mother,  knowing  how 
many  advantages  they  could  give  the  little  girl, 
which  it  was  quite  beyond  her  power  to  provide, 
left  the  question  largely  to  her  own  decision.  The 
child  consented  to  go,  but  on  condition  that  it 
should  be  as  their  "little  cousin,"  protesting,  with 
bitter  tears,  against  the  plan  for  adoption.  Her 
promise  once  given  she  felt  that  she  could  not  re- 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH  13 

tract,  but  she  remembered  and  told  in  her  old  age 
the  story  of  the  struggle,  and  the  sense  of  deso- 
lation, with  which,  bound  by  her  own  word,  she 
set  out  on  the  journey  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
miles.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brovver  had  two  sons,  older 
than  herself,  her  companions  and  schoolmates, 
and  the  vivacious  little  girl  was  soon  the  joy  of  the 
household.  On  the  farm,  in  the  charming  country, 
her  love  of  natural  beauty  was  cultivated,  while 
in  the  well  ordered  and  generously  hospitable 
home,  she  learned  the  arts  of  housewifery  which 
were  to  aid  her,  in  later  life,  to  her  rare  skill  in 
homemaking.  She  must  have  been  a  fascinating 
little  maiden,  for  after  years  of  physical  suffering 
and  burden  bearing  she  had  an  exhaustless  fund  of 
quiet  humor,  and  her  merry  laugh  was  infectious. 
But  in  those  days  she  was  strong  and  well,  over- 
flowing with  physical  life.  Easily  distancing  her 
boy  cousins  in  study,  she  was  ambitious  to  rival 
them  also  in  outdoor  sports.  Mr.  Brower,  a  tall 
strong  farmer,  delighted  to  carry  the  petite  maiden 
on  his  shoulder,  and  to  listen  to  her  wise  questions 
and  merry  chatter  from  that  perch;  or  to  have 
her  follow  him  from  field  to  field,  over  the  rich 
farm — and  those  years  were  to  her  a  time  of 
healthful  development  in  many  ways.  But  under 
the  merriment  was  often  a  heavy  heart,  and  deeper 
than  the  gatitude  to  these  friends  lay  a  resolve  which 


14  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

expressed  itself,  on  her  return  at  twelve  years  of 
age  to  her  mother,  as  she  threw  herself  into  her 
arms  and  felt  her  embrace  about  her:  "I  kept  my 
word  and  went,  now  I  will  never  leave  you  again." 
The  intensity  of  her  sympathy  for  homesick  chil- 
dren and  the  depth  of  her  conviction  that  no  supe- 
rior advantages  elsewhere  could  make  it  wise  to 
sever  the  natural  ties  in  even  the  poorest  home 
gave  a  suggestion  of  what  those  years  had  cost  her. 
Her  girlhood  was  shadowed  by  a  sorrow  more 
grievous,  and  in  which  there  was  an  element  of 
discipline  more  painful,  than  in  most  bereave- 
ments. Her  second  brother  Joseph,  then  a  man 
of  nearly  thirty,  left  his  home  for  the  South.  After 
he  reached  New  Orleans  no  word  of  him  ever 
came  to  the  family.  It  was  one  of  the  years  dur- 
ing which  yellow  fever  prevailed  and  he  was,  doubt- 
less, among  its  victims.  The  eldest  brother  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Canadian  war,  for  some  months  a 
prisoner  among  a  very  rough  and  wicked  set  of 
men.  As  he  was  not  a  Christian  the  widowed 
mother's  anxieties  and  prayers  for  him  were 
scarcely  less  agonizing  than  for  the  other.  The 
loving  hearted  daughter  and  sister  entered  into 
each  grief  bearing  it  for  her  mother  as  well  as  for 
herself.  So  through  anxious  watchings,  hope  de- 
ferred the  longing  for  tidings  which  never  came, 
the  young  soul  was  learning   fortitude  and   equip- 


CHI  in  HOOD  AND   YOUTH 

ing  itself   with   that    armor    uf  trust    and   calm 

which  were  to  make  her  at  once  the  tenderly  sym- 
pathetic and  the  Strong  serene  consoler  of 
many.  The  happy  stories  of  her  childhood  were 
all  connected  with  the  farm  life  in  Franklin.  It 
seems  as  if  her  children  must  have  seen,  so  clear 
is  the  picture  from  oft  repeated  description,  the 
rustic  bridge  from  which  she  fished  in  the  clear 
brook  lor  minnows;  the  big  wheel  and  the  little 
wheel  in  the  kitchen  of  the  farm  house.  Ambitious 
to  spin,  as  to  do  everything  else  well,  it  may  be 
that  in  this  form  uf  "light  gymnastics"  she  acquired 
the  erect  carriage  and  quick  even  step  which  were 
so  characteristic  even  after  years  of  feebleness. 
An  aged  and  almost  helpless  father  of  Mr  Brower's 
was  one  of  the  household  and  in  affectionate  at- 
tendance upon  him  the  little  girl  came  to  have  a 
very  tender  and  reverent  regard  for  old  age,  which, 
all  through  her  life,  made  her  peculiarly  quick  to 
see  its  needs,  and  thoughtful  for  its  limitations. 
When  at  twelve  years  of  age  the  little  girl  returned 
to  her  mother  at  Geneseo,  this  simple  natural 
childlife  was  exchanged  for  one  of  constant  burden 
bearing.  She  studied  at  school  and  worked  at  h<  »me 
far  beyond  her  strength  and  probably  thus  laid  the 
foundation  for  the  lifelong  suffering  which  she  bore 
so  bravely.  Her  mother  was  a  woman  <>f  Stl 
emotions  and  fervent  piety.     She  is  well  described 


16  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

in  a  passage  from  a  recent  book  in  regard  to  a 
New  England  woman  of  the  same  generation.  "I 
can  only  compare  our  mother  to  an  officer  to  whom 
is  committed  the  task  of  bringing  the  household 
of  a  king  from  a  distant  province  through  an  un- 
friendly country,  to  the  capital  of  the  empire, 
whose  loyalty  and  devotion  were  so  ardent  that  he 
would  gladly  give  up  his  own  life  rather  than  that 
one  of  those  committed  to  his  care  should  be  lost. 
But  she  was  not  content  with  this,  she  would  lay 
hold  of  those  by  the  wayside  and  by  the  sweet  com- 
pulsion of  her  prayers  win  them  to  become  her  al- 
lies and  escorts."  Mrs.  Chappell's  anxiety  for  the 
eternal  welfare  of  her  children  was  intense  and  they 
were  kept  perhaps  in  too  constant  thought  of  the 
world  as  an  "enemy's  country."  The  only  surviv- 
ing brother  of  Eliza  still  speaks  with  strong  repug- 
nance of  the  preaching  of  that  day,  to  which  they 
listened,  and  one  by  one  as  the  sons  were  brought 
to  Christ  they  entered  the  Methodist  church,  where 
more  was  said  of  free  grace  than  of  election,  and 
where  their  strong  emotional  natures  found  happy 
expression,  amid  a  circle  which  welcomed  instead 
of  repressing  their  enthusiasm.  The  little  sister 
was  of  a  different  mould.  She  had  a  natural  taste 
for  metaphysics,  read  Edward^and  other  theolog- 
ical works  with  avidity.  The  difficulty  of  a  prob- 
lem was  a  challenge  to  her  mental  power   and   at- 


CHILDHOOD  sIND  YOUTH  17 

tracted  rather  than  repelled.  She  would  not  evade 
or  shrink  from  the  severest  truth  but  set  herself 
"By  searching  to  find  out  God."  In  her  fourteenth 
year  she  united  with  the  Presbyterian  church  of 
which  her  mother  was  a  member.  She  says  of 
her  youth:  "I  do  not  remember  the  time  when  I 
had  not  deep  convictions  of  sin  and  firm  purpose 
to  be  a  Christian.  I  wept,  fasted,  prayed  and 
studied  my  Bible  but  no  light  came."  Her  physi- 
cal condition  doubtless  contributed  not  a  little  to 
the  severity  of  the  mental  struggle,  and  as  cer- 
tainly, the  distress  of  mind  aggravated  the  bodily 
ailments  and  prevented  recuperation.  It  probably 
never  occurred  to  the  friends  of  the  struggling 
child,  who  burdened  no  one  with  the  questions 
which  oppressed  her  life,  that  healthful  exercise 
and  long  hours  of  sleep  were  more  necessary  to 
clear  vision  of  spiritual  things  at  that  crisis  in  her 
experience  than  "Fasting  and  prayer"  and  she 
was  encouraged  in,  rather  than  withheld  from  the 
"religious  exercise,"  which  seem  so  pathetic  as 
part  of  the  experience  of  a  conscientious  and  gentle 
girl.  At  fifteen  she  went  with  her  mother  to 
Rochester  and  boarded  in  the  family  of  the  Rever- 
end Mr.  Everest  while  she  attended  school. 

A  year  of  study  amid  congenial  surroundings 
stimulated  her  desire  for  larger  opportunities  for 
intellectual  attainment,  but  the  death  of  her  second 


1«  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

sister,  Mrs.  Cornelius  Weeks,  took  both  her  mother 
and  herself  back  to  Geneseo.  There  were  four 
motherless  children  left  to  be  cared  for,  the  young- 
est an  infant  of  only  five  days.  These  Eliza  took 
to  her  heart  and  shared  with  her  mother  the  home 
care.  She  took  charge  of  the  neighboring  district 
school  at  sixteen,  and  so  had  the  older  nephews 
and  niece  with  her  in  the  schoolroom  as  well  as  in 
the  household.  Longing  to  fit  herself  for  higher 
teaching,  she  studied  and  read  at  every  leisure 
hour,  until  her  over-taxed  body  and  mind  were 
quite  exhausted  and  her  cousins  Deacon  and  Mrs. 
Brower  coming  from  Franklin  to  make  a  visit  were 
shocked  at  her  changed  appearance  and  insisted 
on  taking  her  back  with  them  to  the  beautiful 
home  of  her  early  girlhood.  The  boys  grown  to 
manhood  were  delighted  to  welcome  their  little 
"pious  cousin,"  for,  serious  as  were  her  views  of 
life,  and  severe  as  she  was  with  herself,  she  was  a 
charming  companion,  sympathetic,  eager,  keen  of 
wit  and  quick  at  repartee.  She  was  immediately 
placed  under  the  care  of  the  family  physician  and 
improved  in  the  comparative  freedom  from  care 
and  under  judicious  treatment.  But  she  was  not 
content  to  be  idle  and  engaged  to  teach  in  the 
vicinity  in  the  spring.  She  kept  the  school  about 
six  months.  All  those  who  came  under  her  influ- 
ence were  impressed  by  the  depth  and  earnestness 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH  l!t 

of  her  religious  life,  but  she  was  sadly  dissatisfied 
with  her  own  attainments  and  studied  her  Bible 
with  constant  longing  to  know  more  of  the  things  of 
God.  The  following  autumn  she  returned  to 
Geneseo  but  was  unfit  to  go  to  the  home  where 
her  mother  had  charge  of  the  group  of  little  chil- 
dren, so  spent  the  winter  in  the  family  of  her 
Uncle  Kneeland  about  a  mile  away.  A  Mrs. 
Spencer,  who  afterward  became  the  wife  of  Major 
General  Eaton,  Commissary  General  U.  S.  A., 
was  residing  in  her  widowhood  at  Geneseo,  with 
an  only  daughter.  A  brother  of  her  husband  pro- 
posed to  provide  for  the  education  of  the  child  in 
New  England  and  the  mother  gratefully  accepted 
his  generous  offer.  She  learned  later  that  it  was 
his  plan  to  send  the  child  to  a  Unitarian  school, 
and  he  was  so  offended  at  her  protest  against  plac- 
ing her  daughter  under  such  influence  that  he  re- 
fused to  do  anything  for  her.  Mrs.  Chappell  greatly 
rejoiced  in  Mrs.  Spencer's  faith  and   firmness   and 

when  she  decided  to  open  a  private  school  in  G 

for  young  ladies  and  thus  support  herself  and  her 
child,  Eliza  was  glad  to  become  her  assistant. 
Still  contending  against  disease  she  entered  heart- 
ily into  this  work,  but  before  spring  she  was  en- 
tirely prostrated  and  was  carried  to  her  sister 
Dolly's  as  all  thought,  to  linger  and  die.  Her  sis- 
ter watched  in  one  room  over  her   own   daughter, 


20  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

Evelina,  who  after  months  of  extreme  suffering 
passed  away,  while  in  another  Mrs.  Chappell  cared 
for  Eliza.  For  nine  months  she  was  very  ill  and 
grew  so  weak  that  physicians  despaired  of  her 
recovery. 

She  said  little  in  after  years  of  the  physical  suffer- 
ing of  this  time  except  in  occasional  reference  to  the 
crude  medical  and  surgical  efforts  for  her  relief. 
Her  spine  was  marked  from  the  base  of  the  brain 
its  whole  length  by  the  scars  of  the  tooth-like 
lancets  used  with  the  cups,  and  in  many  places  by 
those  of  the  cautery.  She  was  so  salivated  by 
calomel  that  she  lost  all  her  teeth  before  she  was 
twenty-five,  and  "suffered  many  things  of  many 
physicians."  While  she  spoke  rarely  and  never  in 
detail  of  these  things  the  story  of  another  phase  of 
her  experience  during  those  months  has  been  often 
repeated:  not  as  a  commonplace  tale,  but  in 
hours  of  deep  tender  confidence  when  she  longed 
to  impart  to  some  other  soul  the  "comfort  with 
which  she  herself  had  been  comforted  of  God." 
Some  twenty  years  ago,  one  of  her  children  asked 
her  to  prepare  a  record  of  her  early  years,  that  the 
story  might  be  preserved  for  her  family.  She  had 
not  strength  for  the  writing,  as  she  was  then  as  in 
her  youth,  giving  her  time  to  teaching,  and  too 
weary  to  use  her  pen  when  that  was  over,  but  she 
recalled    the    various    incidents    recorded    in  this 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH  21 

chapter  and  her  husband  wrote  them  out  for  the 
gratification  of  the  absent  daughter.  From  this 
record  and  the  recollections  of  the  one  or  two  of 
her  own  generation  who  survive  her  this  sketch  of 
her  childhood  and  early  youth  has  been  prepared. 
But  the  other  story  that  of  the  real,  the  inner  life,  I 
shall  venture  to  give  in  no  other  words  than  her 
own.  Only  those  who  knew  her,  and  saw  from  day 
to  day,  how  constantly  and  consciously  the  out- 
ward life  which  she  lived  in  the  flesh,  was  subor- 
dinated to  and  dominated  by,  the  hidden  life  of  the 
spirit  can  comprehend  what  this  experience  was. 


CHAPTER  II 

RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND    ASSOCIATIONS 

uFor  nearly  two  years  I  had  been  living  'under 
the  law'  and  had  lost  all  view  of  Christ  as  my 
Saviour.  Condemned  by  a  holy  law  I  could  see 
no  escape  from  the  wages  of  sin.  Yet  I  admired 
the  law,  saw  that  it  was  perfectly  holy,  but  I  was 
'carnal  sold  under  sin. '  God  had  done  all  he  could 
to  save  me,  yet  my  day  of  grace  was  past ! 

"My  mother  had  said  to  me  one  day  on  coming 
into  my  room,  when  all  despaired  of  my  life,  as 
she  looked  at  me  with  distress  and  tender  love: 
"My  daughter  I  cannot  let  you  die.  I  have  long 
felt  that  God  promised  me  that  you  should  live  to 
be  my  comforter  in  age,  and  close  my  eyes  in 
death.  If  this  promise  fails  then  all  my  hopes  may 
be  groundless.  If  one  link  is  broken  the  chain 
falls.'  I  said:  "You  must  give  me  up  or,  I 
think,  God  must  certainly  take  me  from  you.'  She 
left  me  and  at  night  came  back,  after  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  her  face  radiant  with  joy,  and 
said:  'I  can  give  you  up,  my  child.  I  can  live 
without  you  if  this   is  God's  will.      You   may  go. 

22 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND  ASSOCIATIONS 

Jesus  will  be  with  me  and  with  you.1  After  this 
I  grew  weaker  and  weaker  until  all  strength 
seemed  gone.  I  had  my  Bible  under  my  pillow  as 
was  my  habit  for  years.  Hardly  having  strength 
to  draw  it  out  I  asked  myself:  'Do  you  believe 
this  Book  is  the  word  of  God?'  Yes!  Do  you 
really  believe  every  word  of  it.  Yes!  Every 
promise  and  every  threatening?  Yes!  Do  you 
believe  there  is  a  hell?  Yes!  I  know  there  is,  for 
I  have  felt  it  in  my  own  heart.  It  is  separation 
from  God.  Do  you  believe  there  is  a  heaven. 
Yes!  I  know  there  is.  It  is  being  like  God.  I 
know  the  Bible  is  true  for  it  is  exactly  fitted  to 
the  wants  of  my  soul.  He  that  made  my  soul 
made  the  Bible.  'Will  you  believe  what  you 
now  find  in  that  Book  as  you  open  it?'  'I  will.' 
I  opened  the  Bible  with  trembling  hand  and  read: 
'He  that  believeth  on  me  though  he  were  dead 
yet  shall  he  live,  and  he  that  liveth  and  believeth 
on  me  shall  never  die.'  John  ii.  25-26.  The 
whole  plan  of  salvation  by  faith  seemed  to  flash 
upon  my  mind.  It  was  wonderful,  beautiful,  en- 
rapturing. My  joy  was  unutterable.  I  saw  that 
the  design  of  God  in  all  these  years  of  trial  and  dis- 
cipline was  to  bring  me  to  cease  from  self  and 
rest  in  Christ  alone.  I  calmly,  triumphantly  cast 
all  my  care  on  him.  As  I  read  the  words  of  verse 
twenty-seven:       'Yea!    Lord  I    believe   that    Thou 


24  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  which  should  come 
into  the  world,'  my  soul  was  melted  with  intense 
gratitude  and  love.  I  had  as  much  joy  as  my 
heart  could  hold.  The  simple  plan  of  salvation 
by  Christ  alone,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law, 
burst  fully  upon  my  longing  weary  heart — and  I 
exclaimed  in  wonder  and  ineffable  love:  'Is  this 
all,  is  this  all.'      Taking  God  at  His  word!" 

Now  she  longed  to  live  that  she  might  serve  the 
Lord  who  had  done  so  much  for  her,  and  made 
every  effort  to  gain  strength.  Medicines  seemed 
useless.  She  had  taken  them  until  her  system 
responded  only  to  excessive  doses.  She  put  them 
all  away,  and  encouraged  by  a  kind  Christian 
physician,  began  to  use  the  remnant  of  strength 
left  her.  Unable  to  walk  she  crept  about  her  room 
a  few  feet  at  a  time,  until  she  gained  some  control 
of  her  limbs.  Then  she  again  learned  to  walk,  and 
with  marvelous  courage  and  persistence,  fought 
inch  by  inch  her  way  back  to  comparative  health. 
Her  life,  so  redeemed,  given  back  from  the  grave, 
she  counted  as  in  a  peculiar  sense  "not  her  own," 
and  her  journals  and  letters  all  through  the  years 
reveal  the  clearness  of  her  conviction  that  she  held 
it  only  as  she  used  it  for  Him  whose  it  was.  Each 
new  demand  for  self-sacrifice  seemed  to  carry  her 
back  to  that  first  consecration.  She  could  not 
hesitate.    She  dare  not  shrink.    She  was  the  Lord's, 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND  ASSOCIATIONS 

He  should  do  what  He  would  with  His  own-  and 
in  that  might  this  invalid  of  twenty  rose  from  her 
bed  of  pain,  for  sixty  years  of  service.  This  "body 
of  death"  in  physical  suffering,  she  carried  with  her 
through  the  long  pilgrimage,  but  her  freed  spirit 
triumphed  during  toilsome  days  and  weary  nights 
as  it  did  when  rest  was  near,  and  she  said  with  a 
smile  to  comfort  those  who  stood  about  her:  "Do 
not  grieve,  it  is  not  I  that  suffer,  only  my  poor 
body."  There  may  have  been  hours  of  struggle 
and  darkness  later.  If  so  no  human  friend  knew 
them.  To  the  circle  whom  her  life  blessed  in 
closest  ties  of  relationship,  or  to  the  larger  circle 
whom  it  touched  in  friendship  and  affectionate 
ministry,  she  seemed  the  embodiment  of  courage- 
ous and  dauntless  faith.  Faith  which  over  and 
over  again  "removed  mountains"  of  difficulty  and 
opposition,  and  made  her  life  like  a  streamlet,  flow- 
ing often  in  quiet  hidden  ways,  but  carrying  wher- 
ever it  went  health,  cheer  and  blessing.  Could 
she  have  attained  this  high  vantage  ground  by  any 
other  pathway?  That  question  who  can  answer? 
But  surely  we  may  say,  as  she  would  have  done 
unhesitatingly,  that  what  she  gained  was  worth  all 
the  bitter  cost,  and  that  her  knowledge  of  the 
darkness  helped  her  to  lead  many  a  soul  out  into 
the  light. 

As  soon  as  she  could  bear  the  journey  she  went 


26  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

with  her  mother  to  Rochester.  Praying  for  guid- 
ance as  to  duty  and  to  know  how  the  tide  of  sin  in 
our  land  might  be  stayed,  she  opened  her  Bible 
for  an  answer  and  read  Isaiah  xxviii.  9,  10,  11: 
"Whom  shall  he  teach  knowledge  and  whom  shall 
he  make  to  understand  doctrine.  Them  that  are 
weaned  from  the  milk  and  drawn  from  the  breasts." 
She  accepted  this  as  God's  call,  and  from  that 
time  was  confident  in  her  conviction  that  labor  for 
little  children  had  largest  promise  of  result  for  the 
world.  Wherever  she  went  during  her  long  life  of 
varied  experiences,  she  was  untiring  in  her  efforts 
to  secure  the  best  instruction  for  the  infant  and 
primary  classes,  and  to  establish  Christian  schools 
from  the  extreme  North  on  the  borders  of  Lake 
Superior  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande.  In 
Rochester  Miss  Chappell  was  the  guest  of  a  Mrs. 
Luce  an  Episcopal  lady.  The  first  service  which 
she  attended  after  her  recovery  was  on  Christmas 
Day,  when  she  heard  the  Reverend  Henry  White- 
house — later  Bishop  Whitehouse — preach.  With 
her  new  views  of  truth  she  went  into  the  assembly 
of  God's  people  with  exultant  joy  and  entered  into 
the  service  with  a  delight  which  she  never  forgot, 
and  which  gave  her  a  personal  association  with 
the  beautiful  liturgy  which  made  it  peculiarly  sa- 
cred to  her.  Her  children  did  not  know  for  many 
years  why  she  made  it   a  habit   wherever  she  was 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND  ASSOC!  A  TIONS         27 

to  attend  the  Episcopal  church  at  Christmas  tide, 
but  it  was  a  family  custom,  and  one  which  kept 
her,  as  it  has  her  household  after  her,  in  loving 
sense  of  the  unity  of  God's  people,  and  of  being 
sharers  with  the  one  Holy  Catholic  church  of  a 
great  past,  rich  in  its  noble  and  stately  service. 
Attending  church  with  Mrs.  Luce  she  went  to  many 
religious  gatherings  with  her  Methodist  brother, 
Robert,  and  was  most  welcome  in  the  class-room 
or  at  experience  meetings.  As  one  and  another 
heard  her  story  they  would  exclaim:  "Why!  Sister 
Chappell,  you  have  experienced  the  blessing  of  sanc- 
tification."  She  shrank  from  the  expression  and 
was  never  desirous,  then  or  later,  to  label  any 
spiritual  attainment  but  she  entered  into  the  un- 
conventional gatherings  of  the  Methodist  with  the 
same  appreciation  of  the  real  element  of  power 
there  that  she  had  among  those  whose  outward 
form  of  worship  was  so  different,  assured  that  all 
who  loved  the  Lord  were  indeed  "very  members 
incorporate  in  the  mystical  body  of  thy  Son,  which 
is  the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people."  Bish- 
op Whitehouse  had  a  Bible  class  which  she  at- 
tended with  great  profit.  As  her  strength  in- 
creased she  took  a  small  school  in  the  city,  as  her 
mother,  now  in  failing  health,  had  come  to  make 
her  home  with  her  son  Robert.  He  was  next  in 
age  to  Eliza,  only  a  year  and  a  half  older,  of  most 


28  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

gentle  and  loving  spirit,  a  leader  in  the  M.  E. 
church  and  one  who  deeply  sympathized  in  the 
religious  life  of  his  sister.  The  same  record  from 
which  earlier  facts  are  taken,  reminiscences  jotted 
down  by  her  husband,  says: 

"While  teaching  at  Rochester,  and  testifying  of 
the  love  of  Christ,  she  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  Reverend  William  James,  pastor  of  the  Brick 
church,  of  Reverend  Charles  G.  Finney  and  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Burchard.  Mr.  James  and  Mr.  Finney 
found  in  Miss  Chappell  a  heart  quickened  to  every 
spiritual  influence  and  a  mind  keen  and  active  in 
its  search  for  truth  and  the  friendships  then  formed 
were  lifelong.  Mr.  Finney  said  of  her  years  after: 
'She  posssesed  the  most  Christlike  spirit  I  ever 
met,'  and  Mr.  James  delighted  to  study  the  Bible 
in  her  company,  and  longed  to  attain  a  like  pre- 
cious faith.  The  wonderful  revivals  of  1828  in 
connection  with  the  labors  of  these  evangelists  be- 
gan in  Rochester  and  extended  over  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  into  New  England.  Miss  Chappell 
labored  much  with  Mrs.  Burchard,  especially  for 
the  conversion  of  children.  She  was  hardly  a  dis- 
ciple, rather  a  trusted  friend  and  counsellor  of  the 
great  evangelists,  for  before  she  came  under  their 
influence  she  had  entered  into  a  life  of  faith  which 
made  them  look  to  her  rather  as  a  teacher  than  a 
learner  in  the  'Deep    things  of  God. '      She    how- 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND  ASSOCIATIONS         M 

ever  always  felt  sincere  gratitude  for  the  oportunity 
of  watching  their  work  and  great  personal  obli- 
gation for  the  association.  It  was  fitting  that  this 
young  woman  trained  in  'the  straitest  sect'  of  the 
Presbyterians,  the  zealous  student  of  Calvin  and 
Edwards,  should,  on  the  very  threshold  of  the  new 
life  into  which  she  had  entered,  be  brought  into 
close  personal  contact  with  the  Ritualist,  Mr. 
Whitehouse,  the  mystic  Dr.  James,  the  new 
schoolman  of  fire  and  law,  Dr.  Finney,  the  emo- 
tional Mr.  Burchard,  while  she  lived  in  a  M.  E. 
home  and  found  many  of  her  warm  friends  in  that 
communion,  then  far  more  a  marked  and  separate 
people  than  the  Methodists  of  to-day.  She  had 
unusual  opportunity  to  see  the  'Diversities  of  oper- 
ation,' and  had  already  so  learned  Christ  that  she 
recognized  in  each  'The  same  spirit.'  She  re- 
jected nothing,  as  she  received  nothing  because  of 
its  name,  but  whatever  she  apprehended  as  of 
Christ  she  rejoiced  in  and  entered  into,  while  the 
mere  externals  seemed  too  unimportant  to  sepa- 
rate any  Christian  souls. 

How  well  those  who  knew  her  best  remember 
her  quotation  of  the  words:  'They  gathered  the 
good  into  vessels,  and  cast  the  bad  away,'  and 
the  comment  with  the  mirthful  gleam  in  her  eye: 
'Did  not  stop  to  analyze  the  bad  or  discuss  it,  cer- 
tainly did  not  leave   bad   and    good  together  until 


30  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

both  were  corrupted.  Simply  kept  for  themselves 
that  which  had  value  for  them.  What  they 
counted  'bad'  was  not  inherently  so,  only  worth- 
less for  them,  that  they  'cast  away. '  So  she  did 
for  herself,  as  she  saw  the  truth,  and  the  lessons  of 
those  years  were  priceless  in  fitting  her  to  meet  in 
later  life  'all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. ' 

She  had  been  an  eager  reader  of  whatever  books 
came  in  her  way,  but  now  for  two  years  she  read 
almost  nothing  but  the  Bible;  studied  and  pon- 
dered it.  Ate  it,  and  it  was  the  joy  and  rejoicing 
of  her  heart. 

After  four  months  in  her  son's  new  home,  where 
his  young  wife  and  Eliza  ministered  to  her  with 
loving  care,  Mrs.  Chappell  died. 

The  youngest  daughter  closed  her  eyes  and  was 
her  companion  at  the  last  as  she  had  desired,  and 
the  other  members  of  the  family  most  of  them 
gathered  for  the  final  services  when  the  mother 
was  laid  to  rest,  after  her  long  loneliness,  beside 
her  husband.  Mrs.  Chappell  must  have  been  in 
some  respects  an  unusual  woman.  Her  daughter's 
recollections  of  her  were  delightful  and  tender, 
and  the  one  niece  who  survives  and  remembers 
her,  represents  her  as  of  strong  character  and 
clear  mind.  She  clung  to  her  children  with  pas- 
sionate tenderness  and  I  think  of  the  peculiarly 
strong  family  affection,  demonstrative  and  fervent, 


RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCE  AND  ASSOCIATIONS         8 1 

found  among  all  her  descendants  as  a  Kneeland 
trait.  This  impressed  me  greatly  when  I  first  saw 
the  sisters  and  brothers  together.  Neither  separa- 
tion nor  time  took  from  the  ardor  of  youthful 
affection,  and  as  aged  men  and  women  they  met 
with  the  enthusiasm  and  delight  of  a  household 
whose  interests  had  never  been  divided,  and  whose 
lives  had  not  flowed  in  very  different  channels. 
This  made  separation  peculiarly  painful  to  them, 
and  the  resolution  to  leave  all  early  associations, 
cost  the  young  invalid  more  than  those  who  saw 
her  serene  acceptance  of  what  seemed  the  call  of 
duty  realized. 

But    her  mother  no  longer  needed  her  presence 
and  she  simply  waited  to  see  the  Lord's  way. 


CHAPTER  III 

EARLY   JOURNALS 
BEGINNING  OF  WORK  ON  THE  FRONTIER 

A  few  years  ago  there  was  found  among  piles  of 
old  family  papers,  a  series  of  journals  covering  a 
portion  of  the  years  1831,  1835  m  Miss  Chap- 
pell's  handwriting,  the  only  written  records  of  her 
life  before  the  war,  and  the  only  journals  which 
have  been  preserved.  Her  daughter  did  not  ven- 
ture at  the  time  to  tell  her  mother  of  the  discovery 
but  when  they  had  been  carefully  packed  and 
shipped  with  other  things  to  a  distant  city,  con- 
fessed her  pleasure  in  the  possession,  and  the  con- 
cealment of  the  treasure.  The  reply  was  charac- 
teristic, after  a  little  start  of  surprise  and  the  ques- 
tion: "Why  did  not  you  show  them  to  me?"  Mrs. 
Porter  said  with  a  gentle  smile:  "God  led  me  by 
a  strange  way,  if  it  helps  you  to  follow  some  of 
the  steps  I  shall  be  glad,  but  how  many  things  I 
have  learned  since  then!" 

I  think  she    would    say   now,  could    she    speak 

from  the  enlarged  life  of  the  "perfect  day"  into 

which  she    has  entered:     "If  it  helps  any  one  to 

32 


EARLY  JOURNALS 

follow  the  steps,  I  shall  be  glad,"  so  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  quote  some  what  fully  from  these  the 
only  personal  annals  of  her  experience.  Portions 
of  them  were  written  for  her  home  friends  after  she 
came  to  the  northwest  while  other,  passages  were 
intended  for  no  eyes  but  her  own.  During  later 
years  she  was  frequently  urged  to  write  some  his- 
tory of  her  life  but  invariably  answered:  "That 
which  is  worth  telling,  God's  dealing  with  my 
spirit  cannot  be  written,  the  other,  the  mere  shell 
of  life,  is  of  too  little  value." 

With  a  few  words  of  explanation  and  introduc- 
tion these  journals  shall  tell  the  story  of  the  next 
few  years. 

Among  Miss  Chappell's  friends  in  Rochester 
were  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Loomis,  missionaries  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands.  Impaired  health  prevented 
their  return  to  their  former  field  and  they  were 
sent  to  the  Island  of  Mackinaw  to  join  the  mission 
to  the  Indians,  which  was  under  the  care  of  the 
Reverend  William  M.  Ferry.  Mr.  Ferry  had  not 
only  labored  most  zealously  for  the  Indians  but 
been  a  devoted  and  successful  evaneglist  to  the 
little  community  of  tradesmen  and  army  officers 
on  the  island.  In  a  revival  in  1828  many  of  these 
were  brought  to  Christ,  among  them  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Robert  Stuart. 

Mr.  Stuart  was  the  son   of  Scotch    Presbyterian 


34  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

parents,  trained  from  his  youth  in  the  Scriptures 
but  with  no  apprehension  of  Christ.  He  had  been 
a  very  gay  and  worldly  man.  In  New  York  he 
met  a  brilliant  girl,  one  of  whose  parents  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  the  other  an  Episcopalian.  The 
young  people  were  drawn  to  each  other  and,  after 
a  few  months  secretly  married,  just  before  Mr. 
Stuart  set  off  on  the  expedition  to  the  Pacific  coast 
which  founded  and  named  the  city  of  Astoria. 
The  vessel  on  which  they  had  gone  around  the 
cape  was  wrecked  and  the  party  found  their  way 
back  across  the  continent  to  St.  Louis,  the  first 
which  ever  made  the  overland  trip.  On  his  re- 
turn to  New  York,  Mr.  Stuart  claimed  his  bride 
to  the  great  surprise  of  her  friends,  and  after  a 
time  they  went  to  Mackinaw,  where  Mr.  Stuart  was 
the  resident  partner  of  the  great  American  fur 
company,  of  which  John  Jacob  Astor  was  the 
head.  Here,  in  the  wilderness,  the  proud  man  of 
the  world  gave  himself  to  Christ,  and  his  wife  too, 
learned  that  life  was  for  better  uses  than  any  which 
her  society  career  had  set  before  her.  Of  strong 
characters  and  ardent  temperaments  they  entered 
the  service  of  the  Lord  with  the  same  enthusiasm 
and  leadership  which  had  made  them  foremost  in 
whatever  circle  ihey  had  moved.  In  the  same  re- 
vival Mr.  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  the  Indian  agent, 
who  afterward  lived  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  with 


IIARLY  JOURNALS 

whom  Mr.  Porter  found  his  first  home  in  the  North 
West,  was  converted  and  several  officers  of  the 
army,  who  did  much  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel 
in  this  wide  territory.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stuart  de- 
sired a  teacher  for  their  family  of  little  children, 
and  heard  from  Mr.  Loomis  of  the  ardent  young 
infant  school  teacher  in  Rochester,  whose  heart 
went  out  to  missionary  work,  but  whose  frail  health 
forbade  her  entering  upon  it.  After  some  corre- 
spondence upon  the  subject  Mr.  Stuart  invited 
Miss  Chappell  to  come  to  their  home.  Her  friends 
thought  it  presumptious  for  an  invalid  to  attempt 
such  a  journey,  and  endeavored  to  dissuade  her, 
but  Mr.  Stuart  assured  her  that  if  ill  she  should 
have  the  care  they  would  bestow  upon  a  daughter, 
in  his  family,  and  she  decided  to  go  to  Mackinaw. 
She  spent  a  short  time  in  further  study  of  the  In- 
fant School  system,  which  Mrs.  Bethune  had  intro- 
duced in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  in  June  1 83 1  set 
out  for  the  North.  She  went  first  to  Fort  Niagara 
to  visit  her  friends,  Lieutenant  and  Mrs.  Eaton, 
who  accompanied  her  to  Buffalo,  where  she  took 
steamer  for  Sandusky.  From  this  point  she  was 
to  go  to  PerrysburgOhio  to  visit  her  eldest  brother 
whom  she  had  not  seen  for  fifteen  years.  She 
reached  Lower  Sandusky  Saturday  evening.  The 
stage  for  Perrysburg  was  to  leave  Sunday  morning 
but  she  refused  to  take  it  on  that  day;   the    driver 


36  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

yielded  and  waited  until  Monday  for  his  passen- 
ger. After  a  brief  visit  with  her  brother  she  sailed 
from  Sandusky  for  her  new  home,  where  not  only 
new  but  most  unanticipated  surroundings  awaited 
her.  She  had  lived  all  her  life  in  a  home  of  nar- 
row means  or  among  friends  of  simple  habits.  She 
loved  to  tell  how,  going  to  the  "wilds  of  the 
North"  among  missionaries  and  Indians  she  feared 
that  even  her  modest  wardrobe,  which  although 
simple  was  in  the  then  modern  city  fashion,  might 
prove  inappropriate.  Whatever  it  was  necessary 
to  add  to  it  was  of  the  most  inexpensive'  material 
and  made  in  the  severest  plainness.  Who  that 
heard  will  ever  forget  the  genuine  mirth  with  which 
she  told  of  her  introduction  in  Mr.  Stuart's  luxu- 
rious home,  to  a  style  of  living  and  attention  to  the 
conventional  requirements  of  society  such  as  were 
quite  new  to  her.  As  the  representative  of  the 
great  company  on  the  island,  Mr.  Stuart  enter- 
tained all  persons  of  note  who  visited  that  part  of 
the  country  and  the  missionary  or  governess'  ward- 
robe needed  immediate  attention  to  make  it  at  all 
appropriate  for  the  stately  dinners  and  other 
gatherings  at  which  as  a  member  of  his  family  she 
must  appear.  Miss  Chappell  was  still  so  young, 
and  always  adapted  herself  so  easily  to  new  con- 
ditions that  probably  no  one  but  herself  realized 
her  embarrassment  and  surprise.      But  all  her  life  it 


EARLY  JOURNALS 

made  her  wonderfully  quick  to  see  and  prompt  to 
help  tlmse  similarly  situated.  H<»w  many  can 
call  some  gentle  word  of  advice,  as  to  toilet,  or 
some  little  gift  which  made  the  personal  appear- 
ance more  attractive,  which  perhaps  she  half  apolo- 
gized for  or  explained  to  her  children  by  saying: 
"  I  remember  how  I  felt  at  Mackinaw  !"  She  keenly 
enjoyed  dainty  appointments  and  all  the  little  ele- 
gancies in  the  home  which  wealth  afforded  and  as 
long  as  she  lived  was  fond  of  quoting  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Stuart  as  authority  on  points  of  social  decorum. 
She  admired  and  loved  them  both  and  they  gave 
her  almost  parental  care,  while  in  spiritual  things 
they  looked  up  to  her  and  sought  her  guidance. 
Their  children  were  left  almost  wholly  to  her  at 
home  as  well  as  in  the  school  room,  where  she 
taught  with  them  any  other  of  those  on  the  island, 
too  young  to  attend  the  mission  school.  In  the 
mission  she  found  congenial  friends  and  her  whole 
life  was  enriched  by  the  associations  of  those  years. 
The  first  word  which  has  been  found  from  her 
pen,  is  on  a  sheet  by  itself,  probably  never  seen 
by  any  eyes  but  her  own  until  it  was  taken  from 
the  great  chest  in  Prairie  du  Chien  in  1SS7,  during 
the  last  summer  that  she  was  with  us.  From  the 
date  it  must  have  been  written  about  a  month  be- 
fore she  left  Rochester  and  shows  the  spirit  with 
which  she   entered    upon    that    service    upon    the 


38  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

frontier  which  was  to  be  so  largely  her  life  work. 
Rochester,  May  28,  1831. 
"Two  years  have  elapsed  since  by  the  grace  of 
God,  I  was  led  (by  a  train  of  circumstances  which 
at  the  time  appeared  to  be  grievous  afflictions) 
to  deplore  my  awful  condition,  not  as  an  impeni- 
tent sinner  but  as  a  pardoned  rebel,  who  had 
promised  unqualified  submission  to  an  injured  and 
forgiving  Master,  and  yet  dared  to  live  to  myself, 
to  seek  the  things  that  pertained  to  earth,  not  the 
things  that  were  Jesus  Christ's.  Oh!  how  rich  the 
grace,  how  wonderful  the  love  which  has  been 
manifested  toward  me  the  most  rebellious  of  be- 
ings! Truly  God's  ways  are  not  as  man's  ways, 
else  I  must  have  experienced  the  curse  of  Ephraim, 
'Because  he  is  joined  to  His  idols  let  him  alone.' 
But  boundless  love  and  infinite  compassion,  was 
and  is  still  exercised.  Grace,  free  rich  grace! 
Two  years  did  I  say,  since  by  the  Light  of  Life  I 
was  made  to  see  things  pertaining  to  God  and  my- 
self more  clearly,  and  in  view  of  six  years  of  pro- 
fessed allegiance  consider  and  realize  with  deep 
self  abasement  and  sorrow  that  I  was  'earthly, 
sensual  devilish.'  Whereas  I  had  promised  most 
solemnly  to  be  the  Lord's,  to  renounce  the  world 
and  all  its  vanities,  upon  examination  in  the  Light 
which  the  Spirit  of  God  now  shed  upon  my  dark 
heart  (which  was  truly  a  cage  of  unclean   birds),  I 


Rl.Y  fOURNM  5 

saw  that  I  was  lost.  My  condemnation  oh!  how 
just!  I  thought  I  must  even  in  the  darkness  of 
the  pit  admire  the  justice  which  should  sentence 
me  there.  Indeed  it  seemed  that  God  could  not 
exhibit  His  justice  in  any  other  course.  'The  pains 
of  hell  took  hold  upon  me,  I  groaned  in  my  com- 
plaint and  made  a  noise.'  'I  cried  unto  the  Lord 
and  He  heard  me.'  (Astonishing  condecension!) 
and  the  dear  Lord  presented  Himself  'strong  to 
deliver  and  mighty  to  save.'  Oh  how  clearly  did 
He  convince  me  that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  no 
flesh  should  or  could  be  justified.  'Look  unto 
Meal]  the  ends  of  the  earth. '  None  need  hesitate 
on  account  of  sin,  but  come  on  that  account.  For 
'The  blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin.' 
Forget  now  the  things  that  are  behind. 
Jesus  Christ  came  to  save  the  'chief  of  sin- 
ners,' and  I  am  the  chief,  therefore  I  am  the  one 
precious  thought!  My  sinking  soul  was  made  to 
see  and  now  to  lift  the  feeble  hand  of  faith  to  this 
Mighty  Deliverer.  'Save  Lord  or  I  perish. '  'Canst 
thou  believe  that  after  all  thy  waywardness  and 
vanity  and  and  God-tempting  sins,  that  I  will  re- 
ceive you  as  a  dear  child,  cause  you  to  sit  at  no- 
table and  partake  of  children's  bread. '  'In  Jesus,' 
my  enlightened  comforted  soul  said:  'There  is 
plenteous  redemption.     Lord  I  believe,  help  Thou 

mine  unbelief,   I  make    mention    of    His    righteous- 


40  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

ness,  of  His  only.  Let  me  rest  under  the  mantle 
of  His  grace  and  there  in  spite  of  all  the  universe  I 
am  safe.'  Such  were  some  of  my  feelings.  Why 
had  not  my  blind  eyes  seen  before?  And  'Now 
Lord  'was  my  inquiry  'What  wilt  Thou  have  me 
to  do?  I  am  Thine — forever  Thine.'  I  desired 
to  be  bound  by  everlasting  bonds.  Upon  a  bed  of 
pain  and  extreme  weakness,  what  could  I  now  do 
for  God?  I  had  spent  my  life  and  strength  in  the 
service  of  the  world  and  just  as  I  was  passing,  as 
then  seemed,  in  the  'Valley  of  the  shadow'  began 
to  realize  that  it  had  been  spent  'For  naught.' 
Oh!  at  times  how  did  my  soul  mourn  in  anguish, 
on  account  of  mis-spent  time,  and  marvel  that  the 
beauty  of  the  Will  of  God  had  not  charmed  it  into 
undeviating  compliance.  Let  God  be  glorified 
now  in  me,  was  my  desire  in  life  or  death  or  in 
any  way,  only  let  me  never  wander  from  the  way 
of  peace. 

"Now  did  my  soul  most  solemnly  again  renew 
her  vows  to  be  the  Lord's,  not  in  name  alone  but 
in  truth.  'Forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind' 
and  henceforth  engage  that  the  life  which  remains 
•In  the  flesh'  shall  be  by  'Faith  upon  the  Son  of 
God.'  (How  firm  a  Rock!)  Here  Lord  I  give 
myself  a  miserable  offering  indeed !  But  in  Him 
is  all  my  salvation  and  all  my  hope.  And  now 
Father  all,  all  that  Thou  givest  of  strength  shall 


EARLY  JOURNALS  41 

be  Thine!  My  soul  vowed  unto  the  Lord,  and  He 
is  now  proving  me.  He  strictly  requires  me  now 
to  perform  the  vows  my  soul  in  anguish  made, 
and  let  me  ask  am  I — do  I  at  the  close  of  two 
years  which  have  been  filled  with  remarkable  dis- 
plays of  mercy  and  fulfilment  of  promises  find  my- 
self prepared  to  follow  Christ  to  prison  or  to 
death?  Jesus,  Master,  I  appeal  to  Thee,  'Thou 
knowest  all  things'  and  may  I  not  say  too  'Thou 
knowest  that  I  love  Thee. '  Though  I  find  to  my 
shame  and  humiliation  that  I  am  still  the  'chief  of 
sinners'  and  come  very  far  short  in  the  fulfilment 
of  Thy  requirements,  so  that  I  cannot  bear  to  look 
at  myself  but  through  Thy  precious  robe,  yet  dear 
Saviour  do  I  not  love  Thee?  Do  not  I  prefer  the 
peace  of  Jerusalem  above  my  chief  joy.  I  desire 
this  sacred  morning  to  renew  this  dedication,  cast 
all  my  care  upon  Jesus,  promising  in  His  stength 
to  do  all  for  His  glory.  Witness  ye  angels  of  His, 
and  Thou  blessed  Spirit.  Do  magnify  Thine  office 
and  continually  convince  of  sin,  and  cause  that 
my  repentings  maybe  rekindled  continually.  Thou 
Father  of  the  fatherless  accept  this  offering  and 
be  my  Father  for  I  am  Thine.  Save  me,  and  en- 
able me  to  keep  Thy  statutes.  God,  my  Father, 
Thou  knowest  I  am  but  a  little  child,  oh!  make 
me  at  all  times  to  trust  simply  in  Jesus.  What 
fullness!     Am   I  weak?     He  is  strength,    wisdom 


42  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

and  complete  redemption.    Lord  increase  my  faith. 

"I  am  not  my  own,  'bought  with  a  price.'  My 
time  is  not  my  own.  Lord  teach  me  to  number  my 
days  that  I  may  apply  my  heart  unto  wisdom. 
For  the  better  regulation  of  my  life  I  would  adopt 
the  following  rules: 

i.      To  rise  with  or  before  the  sun. 

2.  To  devote  one  hour  to  reading,  meditation 
and  prayer  before  leaving  my  room. 

3.  Should  this  precious  season  ever  seem  irk- 
some and  tasteless  to  remain  until  God  manifests 
Himself. 

4.  To  inquire  with  regard  to  all  my  movements: 
will  this  be  for  God's  glory? 

5.  To  examine  carefully  the  motives  which 
through  each  day  have  influenced  my  conduct. 

6.  To  endeavor  in  my  intercourse  with  all  to 
do  as  I  would  wish  to  be  done  by. 

7.  To  speak  evil  of  none.     To  do  good  to  all. 

8.  To  observe  one  day  of  each  week  as  a  sea- 
son for  private  fasting  and  prayer." 


CHAPTER   IV 

MACKINAW  JOURNALS    I  832 

The  first  of  the  journals  bears  date  more  than  a 
r  later  than  this  paper,  beginning  in  June  1832. 
In  the  meantime  Miss  Chappell  had  been  teaching 
in  Mackinaw,  and  in  November,  1831  met  for  the 
first  time  "young  Mr.  Porter"  on  his  way  to  Sault 
Ste.  Marie.  He  remembers  well  his  glimpse  of 
the  frail  little  teacher,  as  he  found  her  in  the 
Stuart's  drawing-room,  with  her  carefully  marked 
polyglot  Bible — a  gift  from  Lieutenant  Eaton — in 
her  hand. 

Mackinaw,  June  17,  1832. 
"The  season  for  the  annual  visit  of  the  fur  traders 
and  Indians  is  near,  during  which  many  things  will 
occur,  which  by  noting  them,  as  they  are  pre- 
sented, will  enable  me  to  give  to  my  dear  friends 
who  take  an  interest  in  Mackinaw  a  simple  idea 
of  a  summer  here. 

*'  1 8th.  Mr.  Stuart  arrived  safely  a  few  days 
ago,  after  an  absence  of  several  weeks  during  which 
he  visited  my  dear  friends    in    Rochester,  and    was 

4:j 


44  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

the  bearer  of  a  package  of  letters  which  were  to 
me  'as  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul.'  Often  am  I 
led  to  give  thanks  to  God  for  this  most  invaluable 
blessing,  dear  Christian  friends.  I  sometimes 
think  I  receive  answers  to  their  prayers  while  they 
are  yet  speaking.  Never  did  I  feel  such  delight 
in  trusting  all  to  God's  hands.  I  can  say  with 
David,  'They  that  know  Thy  name,  will  put  their 
trust  in  Thee. ' 

"19th.  This  day  closes  my  third  term.  Have 
had  an  examination  in  which  the  parents  and 
friends  of  the  school  have  evinced  great  interest. 
Could  my  dear  friends  at  home  have  seen  me  sur- 
rounded by  fifty-four  (the  present  number  of  pupils) 
precious  immortals,  many  of  whom  within  nine 
months  have  learned  to  read  and  recite  passages 
of  Scripture — could  you  have  looked  in  upon  us 
this  morning,  and  followed  us  in  our  exercises  I 
doubt  not  your  hearts  would  have  filled  to  over- 
flowing. I  design  to  have  a  vacation  of  a  few 
days.  In  spirit  I  shall  visit  you  all.  Thanks  to 
God  that  we  may  thus  meet  and  before  our 
Father's  throne  unite  our  petitions  and  offer  up 
our  desires.  Is  not  the  time  of  our  sojourning  in 
this  land  of  shadows  indeed  short?  and  all  the 
way  to  the  heavenly  city  even  here  we  are  made 
to  rejoice  with  'joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory. ' 
'Christ  in  us  the  hope  of  glory.' 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS  40 

"21st.  I  am  spending  my  vacation  at  the  mis- 
sion house.  How  kind  is  our  Father  thus  to  open 
in  this  desert  land  such  a  retreat  for  the  refresh- 
ment of  His  little  children!  As  I  design  to  take 
you  with  me,  or  rather  to  take  Mackinaw  scenes 
home  to  you,  you  will  allow  me  to  be  minute. 
Could  you  view  with  me  from  the  chamber  in  which 
I  am  now  sitting  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw  and  the 
beautiful  Island  of  Bois  Blanc,  which  rises  in  front 
of  the  mission  house,  and  at  this  season  presents 
to  the  eye  all  that  is  beautiful  in  a  forest,  you 
would  exclaim  with  David  'all  Thy  works  praise 
Thee,'  and  should  we  not  together  add  'and  Thy 
saints  bless  Thee?' 

"4I  will  say  of  the  Lord  He  is  my  rock,  my  for- 
tress and  my  high  tower. '  Last  evening  was  our 
weekly  season  for  prayer.  I  proposed  to  Sister 
Hotchkiss  who  has  charge  of  all  the  small  girls  of 
the  family  to  take  her  place  with  them,  while  she 
should  join  the  other  sisters  in  the  prayer-meeting. 
As  it  was  about  the  time  for  evening  lessons,  they 
repeated  together  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  and 
the  fifty-fifth  chapter  of  Isaiah.  A  hymn  sung  by 
sixteen  sweet  Indian  voices  was  peculiarly  touch- 
ing, and  the  scene  solemn  indeed  when  I  reflected 
that  not  one  of  this  interesting  group  could  say  in 
truth  in  the  words  of  the  hymn  'Weep  for  joy  my 
sins  forgiven.'    How    awful   the   condition    of   the 


46  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

children    of    this    mission    family!     Will   you   not 
pray  for  them? 

"22nd.  I  expect  to  return  to  Mr.  Stuart's  this 
evening.  God  has  opened  in  this  dear  family  a 
place  of  domestic  happiness,  such  as  when  I  left 
your  affectionate  circle  I  never  expected  again  to 
enjoy.  A  Father  of  the  fatherless  is  God  in  His 
holy  habitation. 

"23rd.  On  my  return  from  the  mission  accom- 
panied by  one  of  the  sisters  I  called  at  some  of  the 
Indian  lodges.  We  had  a  copy  of  St.  John's  Gos- 
pel and  attempted  to  read  to  them,  but  such  in- 
difference! Oh!  when  shall  all  this  wandering 
miserable  race  believe  the  report?  Soon!  For 
the  Day  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand. 

"24th.  Sabbath  morning.  Propose  to  meet  some 
of  my  infant  children  in  the  school  room  for  the 
purpose  of  leading  their  young  minds  to  Christ. 
Dear  Saviour  wilt  Thou  not  take  even  these  lambs 
in  Thine  own  arms,  deliver  them  from  the  reign 
and  superstition  of  the  man  of  sin  under  whose  in- 
fluence they  were  fostered?  Those  of  us  who 
have  been  nursed  in  the  lap  of  piety  and  early 
taught  to  fear  God  little  realize  the  unspeakable 
blessing  hereby  enjoyed. 

"25th.  The  Indians  are  making  depredations 
upon  the   frontier   settlements.      Several    families 


MACKINAIV  JOURNALS  17 

have  fallen  victims  ttfe  their  savage  cruelty.  News 
arrived  last  evening  cf  the  murder  of  one  of  the 
missionaries  who  was  riding  upon  a  fine  horse, 
which  an  Indian  demanded;  as  he  hesitated  to 
dismount  and  endeavored  to  ride  away  he  was  shot 
dead.  It  is  thought  by  some  that  these  disturb- 
ances will  soon  be  quelled,  others  think  that  much 
blood  will  first  be  shed.  It  appears  that  they  have 
long  been  preparing  for  an  attack  upon  the  whites. 

"26th.  A  few  days  since  our  hearts  were  cheered 
by  the  arrival  of  missionaries  from  Canada  going  to 
establish  a  colony  near  the  Straits  of  St.  Mary's; 
Mr.  Hurlburt,  a  Methodist  brother,  accompanied 
by  four  Indians.  I  think  they  were  sent  from  the 
Rice  Lake  mission.  God  is  opening  the  way,  and 
sending  laborers  into  the  field,  who  'Through 
Christ  strengthening  them'  shall  Declare  among 
the  heathen  the  power  of  God  in  the  forgiveness  of 
sins.  My  soul  hope  Thou  in  God  for  the  word 
of  the  Lord  is  sure  and  abideth  forever. 

"28th.  Time  is  swiftly  passing,  rapidly  bearing 
us  toward  the  grave.  What  kind  provision  is  made 
by  our  Father  that  our  short  stay  in  this  world  may 
be  pleasant.  What  more  could  He  do  for  His 
vineyard?  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  Jesus 
all  may  live.  Through  this  new  and  living  way 
free    and     intimate     communion    with     heaven    is 


48  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

opened — and  the  vile  children  of  earth  made  heirs 
of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Him,  who  is  the  bright- 
ness of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  express  image 
of  His  person.  All  that  was  lost  in  Adam,  in 
Christ  our  advocate  is  here  restored.  What  man- 
ner of  love! 

"Visited  yesterday  at  Mr. and  Mrs. Mitchell's  dear 
Christian  friends  whose  mothers  were  Indian 
women.  The  fathers  were  men  of  wealth  who 
educated  their  children.  Mr.  Mitchell  exhibits  the 
Christian  in  every  act.  Love  seems  to  be  the  rul- 
ing principle  of  life.  At  their  house  I  met  a  young 
convert  from  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  where  God  has 
manifested  the  riches  of  His  grace  in  bringing 
many  to  Jesus,  you  will  bless  the  Lord  with  us 
for  what  He  has  wrought  at  the  Sault.  An  ex- 
hibition of  grace  such  as  has  never  been  recorded 
among  the  officers  of  the  army — characters  con- 
sidered the  most  removed  from  religious  influence. 
At  that  Fort  (Brady)  all  the  officers  except  one, 
with  many  of  the  soldiers  have  submitted  to  Christ. 
The  revival  commenced  soon  after  Mr.  Porter  (a 
young  brother  sent  out  by  the  A.  H.  M.  S.)began 
his  labors  among  them  last  November.  A  church 
of  thirty  members  has  been  formed  and  a  number 
added  also  to  the  Eaptist  church  which  has  a  mis- 
sion house  and  a  number  of  Indian  children  under 
the  care  of  a  missionary  sent  out  several  years 
since. 


MACKWAW  JOURNALS 

"p.  M.  This  morning  Mr.  Mitchell  and  lady  called 
and  invited  me  to  walk  in  their  garden.  I  suppose 
the  idea  of  a  beautiful  garden  in  Mackinaw  has  not 
occurred  to  you  as  possible.  I  had  a  pleasant  view 
of  a  plot  of  ground  handsomely  laid  out  and  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation.  In  speaking  of  Mr. 
Mitchell  I  told  you  he  was  the  son  of  an  Indian 
woman,  his  father  a  physician  who  educated  him 
abroad  as  a  gentlemen.  The  mother  was  devoted 
to  her  children  and  her  ambition  was  to  have  them 
maintain  the  rank  of  gentlemen  in  the  world.  A 
large  fortune  was  at  her  control  to  which  by  her 
industry  and  subtle  management  she  continually 
made  additions.  She  was  engaged  in  a  lucrative 
trade  with  the  Indians  among  whom  she  had  un- 
bounded influence.  The  children  had  the  prospect 
of  independent  wealth,  but  the  failure  of  the  north- 
west fur  company  of  Canada  (in  which  Dr.  Mitch- 
ell's property  was  invested)  reduced  them  to  a 
mere  competence.  The  son  of  whom  I  am  now 
speaking  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  among  the  In- 
dians in  which  he  acquired  some  property  beside 
supporting  his  family  genteelly,  until  about  two 
years  ago,  when  he  was  made  to  feel  that  he  was 
lost  and  ruined.  When  he  heard  of  Jesus  he  be- 
lieved, and  is  a  bright  example  of  the  simplicity  of 
the  Gospel  child.  His  business  with  the  Indians 
was  largely  to    supply    them    with    ardent    spirits. 


50  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

The  spirit  which  had  taught  him  to  love  God,  had 
also  taught  him  to  love  his  neighbor  as  himself. 
He  now  felt  that  the  only  means  he  possessed  of 
supporting  his  family  must  be  relinquished  or  duty 
sacrificed.  He  did  not  hesitate  a  moment.  He 
considered  all  dealing  in  ardent  spirits  contrary  to 
the  law  of  Christ.  For  two  years  past,  he  has 
been  waiting  some  opening  in  the  providence  of 
God,  in  which  he  may  labor  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  his  conscience.  The  garden  thus  hand- 
somely arranged  by  his  Indian  mother,  has  be- 
come the  only  means  of  support  of  this  supposed 
heir  of  thousands.  Not  trained  himself  to  labor, 
all  the  work  on  the  place  is  done  by  old  servants. 
Mr.  Mitchell  is  the  Indian's  friend  and  brother. 
Indeed,  a  brother  to  all. 

"This  evening  I  expect  some  of  my  sisters  in  the 
social  prayer  circle.  My  dear  friends,  do  pray 
much  and  fervently  for  missionaries.  They  need 
your  prayers.  What  do  you  think  would  sustain 
us  did  not  Jesus  in  all  places  give  answers  to 
prayer.  His  presence  cheers  and  enlivens  every 
path. 

"29th.  This  day,  one  year  since  I  bade  adieu  to 
friends  of  my  heart  and  became  a  stranger  arid  a 
sojourner.  God  has  indeed  verified  the  promise 
made  to  the  Fatherless  and  the  stranger.  The 
Lord  is  my  portion,  whom  shall  I  fear? 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS  51 

"30th.  I  expect  soon  to  reopen  my  school. 
These  dear  children  have  a  warm  place  in  my 
heart.  Oh!  that  in  the  strong  confidence  of  child- 
like faith  I  may  bring  them  to  that  Saviour  who 
carries  the  Lambs  in  His  bosom.  He  surely 
cares  for  these.  His  own  hand  has  opened  the 
way  for  them  to  obtain  that  wisdom  which  is  from 
above,  which  is  to  be  found  by  all  who  can  read 
His  Holy  Word. 

"July  2nd.  To-day  I  dined  at  Mr.  Mitchells  in 
company  with  an  Indian  trader  and  wife  who  have 
just  arrived  from  the  wintering  grounds.  These 
traders  usually  marry  squaws,  which  gives  them 
influence  among  the  people  as  the  chiefs  feel  it  an 
honor  to  give  their  daughters  to  these  great  men, 
as  they  esteem  the  traders  to  be.  From  these  un- 
desirable unions,  entered  into  often  only  for  the 
love  of  money,  have  arisen  a  race  less  stable  in 
character  than  either  whites  or  Indians.  Macki- 
naw is  inhabited  principally  by  such.  The  mis- 
sion school  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  this 
class,  but  few  unmixed  Indians.  Mr.  Stuart  has 
two  such  servants,  the  eldest  a  dear  sister,  who 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  missionaries  has 
been  redeemed  from  a  state  of  the  deepest  degra- 
dation. 

"3rd.  To-day  Mr.  Perry  kindly  called  to  take  me 
to  ride,  to  take  a  view  of   the    Island    from    Fort 


52  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

Holmes.  The  scenery  is  most  wild  and  beautiful. 
Vegetation  has  been  very  rapid  in  its  growth ;  a 
cooler  season  than  usual  prevented  early  starting. 
We  have  had  no  weather  that  has  been  uncom- 
fortably warm.  Mackinaw  is  a  most  delightful 
summer  residence  for  those  who  love  nature  in  her 
wildness.  The  surface  is  very  uneven.  Little 
hills  and  valleys,  rocks  and  pebbles.  These  make 
fine  gravel  walks  and  prevent  inconvenience  at 
any  season  from  muddy  paths.  These  natural 
beauties,  contrasted  with  the  high  white  walls  of 
the  Fort,  and  beyond  the  water  interspersed  with 
small  islands,  at  this  season  covered  with  verdure 
gives  a  most  romantic  scene,  and  leads  the  mind  to 
our  Father  in  heaven,  who  has  so  kindly  provided 
objects  to  delight  the  eye,  and  raise  the  heart,  al- 
most involuntarily  to  Him  who  sitteth  on  the  cir- 
cle of  the  earth,  and  before  whom  the  inhabitants 
are  as  grasshoppers. 

"July  4th.  No  public  celebration  to-day,  not 
even  the  firing  of  cannon.  The  commanding 
officer  is  daily  expecting  orders  to  leave  for  Chi- 
cago, to  aid  the  troops  in  this  Indian  warfare 
which  is  daily  becoming  more  alarming.  Many 
among  us  begin  to  tremble  in  fear  of  their  approach 
to  attack  Mackinaw.  The  probability,  however, 
is  that  nothing  of  this  kind  will  occur.  Several 
regiments  are  on  their  way  to  join  those  already  in 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS 

the  field.      Efficient    measures    arc  taken  to  brin^ 
this  unhappy  broil  to  an  issue  soon. 

"July  5th.  Again  resumed  my  change  under  en- 
couraging circumstances,  all  seemed  delighted  to 
enter.  How  evidently  God  has  blessed  the  es- 
tablishment of  this  school.  Oh!  that  from  it  He- 
would  consecrate  a  generation  to  his  glory,  and 
perfect  out  of  the  mouths  of  these  babes  a  song  of 
praise  to  that  grace  which  opened  to  them  a  door 
for  instruction.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced 
that  parents  and  those  who  have  the  care  of  chil- 
dren do  not  regard  with  sufficient  interest  the  first 
three  years.  How  vigilant,  during  this  early 
period  should  those  be,  to  whom  the  care  of  such 
precious  plants  is  entrusted.  God  Himself  de- 
clares that  if  parents  do  'Train  up  a  child  in  the 
way  he  should  go,  when  he  is  old  he  shall  not  de- 
part from  His  law.'  This  is  throwing  to  a  degree 
the  eternal  destinies  of  your  children  into  your 
hands. 

"July  7th.  Mackinaw  is  now  greatly  perplexed. 
Fear  and  alarm  take  hold  of  many.  The  cause  is 
not  the  movements  of  the  Indians.  We  have  not 
had  any  serious,  perhaps  I  may  say  any  fears  from 
them.  Gcd  appears  to  be  dealing  in  judgment 
with  our  troops  who  are  ordered  to  attack  them. 
Three  steamboats  filled  with  troops  are  now  on 
their  passage.      On  Saturday  the  Steamer  Thomp- 


54  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

son  reached  our  island  with  three  companies  of 
Virginia  troops,  who  had  in  fifteen  days  traveled 
fifteen  hundred  miles — a  wild  goose  chase  we  think 
it.  They  spent  one  night  in  our  harbor  and  left 
behind  them  two  sick  soldiers,  whose  disease  has 
proved  to  be  the  dreaded  scourge  cholera.  The 
men  have  both  died  and  others  are  ill.  The  two 
other  boats  have  not  arrived  and  the  fears  of  all 
are  excited  lest  pestilence  is  the  cause  of  the  delay. 
Our  schools  are  all  closed  and  fear  takes  hold  on 
many.  'Blessed  is  the  man  whose  hope  the  Lord 
is.' 

"July  8th.  This  is  indeed  a  time  of  conster- 
nation on  our  small  island.  Four  have  fallen 
victims  to  the  disease,  none  but  those  who  were 
ready  to  fall  by  intemperance  have  yet  been  at- 
tacked,  but  all  'Faces    gather  blackness   and  fear 

takes    hold    of    the    fearless. '      Dr.  McM and 

lady  took  tea  at  our  house  last  evening.  He  was 
hastily  called  out — a  soldier  was  attacked  with 
spasms.  He  was  carried  to  the  grave  this  morn- 
ing. Yesterday  in  perfect  health  he  was  called  to 
assist  in  administering  to  one  quite  sick.  His 
fears  were  so  great  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  hos- 
pital, and  in  less  than  twenty  hours  he  was  carried 
to  his  long  and  silent  home.  'When  God's  judg- 
ments are  abroad  will  not  the  earth  learn  righte- 
ousness?'    A  day  of  prayer  and   fasting  has  been 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS 

appointed.  Oh!  that  like  heathen  Nineveh  we 
may  truly  fast,  and  like  it  turn  away  the  wrath 
which  is  already  kindled! 

"July  9th.  No  new  case  of  disease  has  occurred. 
We  hope  the  plague  is  stayed.  For  a  few  days  no 
ardent  spirits  have  been  sold  and  temperance  in  all 
things  has  been  observed.  How  truly  do  we 
realize  this  Scripture.  'Because  sentence  against 
an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore 
the  hearts  of  the  sons  of  men  are  fully  set  in  them 
to  do  evil. ' 

"July  ioth.  The  traders  from  the  Indian  country 
are  daily  arriving.  Mackinaw  at  this  season  ap- 
pears to  be  a  business  town.  Mr.  Ayer,  one  of 
the  missionaries  to  Lake  Superior,  and  Mrs.  Ayer, 
with  the  wife  of  one  of  the  converted  Indians  who 
belongs  to  the  mission  family,  and  who  went  out 
last  summer  as  interpreter,  arrived  last  week. 
Another  sister  from  this  station  will  leave  in  a  few 
days.  Oh!  if  there  were  four  good  teachers  now 
in  Mackinaw,  the  traders  would  gladly  take  them 
into  the  Indian  country  at  their  own  expense. 
Great  is  the  cry  for  laborers.  We  want  most  of 
all  teachers,  mechanics  and  farmers.  Why  does 
the  church  sit  in  her  ceiled  house  and  this  desert 
lie  waste  for  lack  of  laborers? 

"July  16th.      This  is  the  blessed  Sabbath.      May 


56  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

it  be  a  day  of  Zion's  enlargement,  the  birthday 
of  many  souls!  This  day  our  church  is  to  come 
about  the  table  of  the  Divine  Master  and 'In 
breaking  of  bread  show  forth  the  Lord's  death.' 
Four  are  to  be  added  to  the  church  to-day.  Cap- 
tain Russell  and  lady,  of  U.  S.  A.,  are  two  of 
the  number.  They  were  subjects  of  the  revival 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  last  winter. 

"Two  new  cases  of  cholera  have  appeared.  Many 
among  us  will  doubtless  fall  by  it.  Death  appears 
near.  But  'Perfect  love  casts  out  fear'  even  of 
the  'King  of  terrors.'  Christ  is  all,  here  and  here- 
after. I  am  about  to  meet  my  Sunday  charge, 
about  twenty  of  my  Infant  children,  some  of  them 
from  Catholic  families.  By  thine  own  word  Lord 
God  Almighty  wilt  Thou  teach  them  that  'Except 
a  man  be  born  again  he  cannot  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.' 

"Evening.  This  has  been  a  deeply  solemn  and 
most  interesting  day.  Surely  Jesus  manifested 
Himself  to  His  disciples  in  the  breaking  of  bread. 
It  is  delightful  to  see  the  officers  of  the  army  with 
their  soldiers  enlisting  together  in  the  service  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace. 

"I  have  just  returned  from  a  call  upon  a  sick 
widow.  Her  appearance,  with  distressing  cough 
and  sore  mouth,  brought  so  freshly  to  mind  the 
dying  scene  of  our  much  loved  mother,  that  I  was 
overcome. 


MACKINAW  J(  )URNALS  5? 

•'Y  >u  know  how  fondly  I  have  clung  to  my  home 
and  friends,  and  yon  would  DO  doubt  like  to  know 
if  nature  does  not  sometimes  triumph  and  cause 
Eliza  to  look  back  with  regret  to  the  friends 
has  left  behind.  I  do  with  thanksgiving  to  God 
assure  you  that  through  His  grace  I  have  never  for 
one  moment  felt  a  pang  of  regret.  While  my 
friends  were  never  dearer,  yet  I  think  I  can  with 
sincerity  say  'Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  Tl: 
and  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  beside 
Thee.'  Let  me  but  hear  the  Masters  voice  I 
ing  'This  is  the  way,'  and  I  can  ask  no  greater  joy 
than  grace  to  walk  in  it.  My  Father,  my  Father, 
Thou  art  the  guide  of  my  youth.  Can  I  want  any 
good  thing?  Only  cause  me  to  'delight  in  Thy 
statutes'  and  then  4My  peace  shall  be  as  a  river.' 
'God  so  loved  the  world  that  He  gave  His  only  be- 
gotten son.'  What  manner  of  love  is  this5  If  we 
have  part  in  this  love,  how  soon  shall  we  be  per- 
mitted to  sit  together  in  heavenly  places,  to  go  no 
more  out? 

"July  17th.  My  soul  is  moved  within  me  while  I 
look  at  fields  'white  for  the  harvest,'  and  for  lack 
of  laborers  so  many  must  perish.  Oh!  that  the 
spirit  of  holiness  did  reign  among  those  who  have 
named  the  name  of  Christ—  and  it  shall.  A  sure 
word  cheers  and  animates  us.  'As  the  Lord  liveth 
Zion  shall  be  redeemed  with  judgment  and  her 
converts  with  righteousness. ' 


58  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"July  1 8th.  The  steamboat  which  conveyed  the 
troops  to  Chicago  has  just  returned.  The  ravages 
of  cholera  on  board  were  most  distressing.  Fifty- 
one  in  a  passage  of  three  days  fell  by  its  cruel 
hand.  The  captain  said  that  from  Mackinaw  to 
their  place  of  landing  hardly  an  hour  passed  but 
some  soul  from  on  board  was  launched  into  eternity, 
and  the  body  committed  to  the  deep.  The  soldiers 
were  principally  affected,  but  one  officer  died. 
Eighty-one  were  ill  when  the  captain  left.  'The 
people  tremble  before  the  blast  of  His  breath.' 
There  have  been  but  five  cases  in   Mackinaw. 

"July  20th.  The  traders  on  account  of  the  alarm 
of  cholera  make  a  short  stay  in  Mackinaw  this 
year.  One  of  them  whose  heart  the  Lord  has 
opened  has  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  take  a 
teacher  into  the  Indian  country.  Should  the 
brother  expected  from  Utica  arrive  the  probability 
is  that  Mr.  Ayer  will  go.  My  feelings  are  very 
ardent  on  this  point.  'Shall  it  be  told  in  Gath' 
that  the  cry  is  continually  made  for  help  and  none 
will  come  up?  Let  us  take  heed  lest  the  curse  of 
Meroz  come  upon  us  if  we  sit  still  or  are  quieted 
after  having  made  a  trifling  effort.  There  has 
never  been  such  opening  of  the  way  as  at  present. 
How  easy  it  is  for  God  to  accomplish  His  pur- 
poses, how  delightful  the  reflection  that  He  is  King 
in  Zion! 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS 

"July  21th.  Brother  Hall  from  I'tica  has  arrived 
just  in  time  to  allow  Brother  Ayer  to  go  with  the 

trader  who  offers  to  support  him  and   the   school. 
Books  in   the   Chippewa    language    are    preparing 

which  will  soon  give  them  the  word  of  God  in  their 
own   tongue. 

"July  23rd.  I  have  not  yet  opened  my  school 
since  the  alarm  of  cholera.  I  think  I  understand 
the  tranquility  of  those  'whose  hope  the  Lord  is.' 
Though  the  earth  be  removed  and  the  mountains 
be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  yet  shall  not 
my  soul  be  greatly  moved  if  Christ  Jesus  is  my 
Rock. 

"July  24th.  Our  island  is  a  scene  of  excitement. 
Two  of  the  traders  who  are  members  of  our  church 
are  to  be  married  to  Indian  girls  of  the  mission 
family.  This  is  the  custom  of  the  traders,  who 
you  understand  are  intelligent  white  men.  They 
marry  Indian  girls  and  take  them  into  the  interior. 
Some  of  them  are  several  thousand  miles  beyond 
us.  Our  school  prepares  these  girls  to  make  their 
families  happy,  and  to  be  themselves  very  useful 
among  their  people  if  disposed. 

"July  28th.  Upon  the  subject  of  holiness  of  heart 
the  Scriptures  are  most  clear.  I  am  from  them 
daily  convinced  that  unless  our  lamps  have  oil 
sufficient   to  shed  light  around  our  path,  so  bright 


60  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

that  all  who  see  can  behold  it,  we  have  not  that 
which  will  bring  us  into  the  Bridegroom's  presence 
with  joy.  If  we  have  the  spirit  of  Christ,  then  we 
have  evidence  that  Christ  is  ours.  If  we  have  His 
spirit  'our  meat  and  drink'  will  be  to  do  'The  will 
of  our  Father' — and  'This  is  the  will  of  God  even 
our  sanctification. '  By  the  word  of  God  I  am 
taught  that  through  Christ  Jesus  the  whole  man 
may  be  made  new,  and  'where  sin  abounded  grace 
may  much  more  abound. '  Then  may  not  grace 
actuate  the  whole  soul?  Oh!  let  us  seek  after  all 
the  'mind  that  was  in  Jesus!' 

"I  rejoice  this  morning  that  Jesus  'Has  power 
on  the  earth  to  forgive  sins,'  and  while  conscious 
of  great  bodily  weakness  am  led  almost  to  forget 
that  I  am  not  strong.  'The  Lord  is  my  light  and 
my  salvation.'  lam  in  confident  expectation  of 
seeing  some  one  soon,  whose  heart  the  Lord  has 
moved  to  devote  themselves  to  the  children  of  this 
desert.       'The  Lord  has  all  hearts  in  His  hands.' 

"July  30.  A  very  interesting  Indian  called  last 
week  at  the  mission  for  instruction.  Last  summer 
on  his  way  to  Rice  Lake  he  came  to  the  house, 
and,  as  usual  when  the  Indians  call  upon  them, 
some  one  of  the  family,  through  an  interpreter, 
endeavored  to  lead  him  to  God.  He  was  perfectly 
ignorant  having  never  even  heard  of  such  a  being. 
As  he  said  he  was  going  to  Rice  Lake  he  was  told 


\CKWAW  JOURNALS  6] 

of  John  Sunday  and  Peter  Jones  ;  native   converts) 
ami  promised  I  to  hear  more   about 

the  Great  Spirit.  He  returned  a  few  days  si; 
With  his  countenance  beaming  with  animation  he 
took  the  sister  who  had  taught  him  by  the  hand 
and  said:  'Me  glad  see  you  now.  Me  know  more 
about  God.  Me  love  Jesus.  Me  love  you  too. 
Me  went  where  you  say.  They  all  good.  Tell 
me  plenty  about  God.  Bad  heart.  My  heart 
very  bad,  get  better  heart  of  Jesus.  Me  go  home 
tell  all  about  it.  Me  drink  no  more  whisky!' 
Oh!  when  shall  this  degraded  people  all  be  taught 
of  God  ? 

"July  30th.  To-day  a  gentleman  from  Sault 
Ste.  Marie  called  at  my  school.  His  heart  was 
quite  softened  in  view  of  what  might  be  done  by 
the  establishment  of  infant  schools  throughout  all 
this  region.  Upon  leaving  he  exacted  a  promise 
that  I  would  endeavor  to  find  a  teacher  for  the 
Sault,  said  he  would  engage  to  provide  a  home  for 
anyone  who  would  give  herself  to  this  work.  Who 
will  come  and  help  us  ?  Nothing  more  can  be  said. 
The  command  and  example  of  Jesus  must  and  will 
avail  with  those  who  love  Him,  more  than  father 
or  mother,  or  even  life.  We  want  many  who  are 
made  strong  by  the  mighty  God  of  Jacob.  How- 
small  an  offering  when  we  give  all!  Give5  are 
we  our  own3  Has  not  the  Master  a  claim  upon 
all  our  service? 


62  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"August  3rd.  This  morning  my  soul  has  been 
greatly  refreshed  by  the  precious  promise  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Strength  ol  Israel.  'As  surely  as  I 
live  saith  the  Lord  every  knee  shall  bow  and  every 
tongue  confess. '  What  more  need  be  said  to  the 
children  of  the  kingdom  except  'Go  forward?' 
Not  even  the  weakest  effort  made  for  the  promo- 
tion of  this  work  shall  fail.  Many  must  go  out 
•Whither  the  Lord  will  lead'  them  depending  solely 
upon  His  spirit  to  counsel,  direct  and  sustain. 
Were  this  course  adopted  how  many  pillars  would 
soon  be  raised  in  the  desert  to  testify  that  God 
had  met  with  and  blessed  the  pilgrim  in  his  journey- 
ings.  Could  two  or  three  teachers  come  next 
September  an  opening  would  be  found  for  each.  I 
look  upon  the  Infant  school  system  as  designed  by 
God  to  open  the  way  for  the  missionary  of  the 
cross,  and  'perfect  His  praise  from  the  mouth  of 
babes. '  You  see  the  necessity  that  those  who  en- 
gage in  a  work  which  is  to  be  instrumental  in  ac- 
complishing this,  should  be  themselves  'rooted  and 
grounded  in  Christ.' 

"August  4th.  'Who  is  this  that  cometh  from 
Edom  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah?'  This 
that  is  glorious  in  His  apparel  and  travailing  in 
the  greatness  of  His  strength?'  It  is  the  Lord  Jesus 
who  will  overturn  and  overturn  until  He  accom- 
plish all  that  after  which  our  souls   pant.      4Holi- 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS 

ness  to  the  Lord'  shall  be  'inscribed  upon  all 
things. '  I  look  around  and  see  nothing  but  dark- 
ness— sinners  blind  to  all  that  can  render  even 
their  stay  on  earth  desirable.  I  see  those  who 
profess  to  follow  Jesus  a  such  at  distance  from  their 
Master  that  I  am  sure  they  do  not  behold  in  Him 
'all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead. '  I  see  a  world 
perishing  for  lack  of  vision,  and  those  whose  duty 
it  is  to  enlighten  them  by  carrying  the  Gospel  sit- 
ting at  ease.  I  look  into  the  Word  of  God  and  find 
the  Eternal  pledged  for  the  redemption  of  man 
from  ignorance  and  superstition.  A  sure  word  of 
promise  that  Jesus  shall  'see  the  travail  of  His 
soul  and  be  satisfied, '  and  hence  I  do  rejoice  and 
will  rejoice  as  'seeing  things  which  are  invisible. ' 
"I  have  just  learned  that  Mr.  Ferry  is  about 
to  leave  for  the  East.  Have  time  for  no  letters  to 
correspondents.  I  think  our  separation  will  not  be 
long.  In  delightful  anticipation  I  look  beyond  this 
land  of  shadows,  to  our  'Father's  House'  where 
are  'many  mansions. '  When  you  write  do  speak 
of  every  change  in  town  and  even  on  the  farms 
that  I  used  to  know.  Tell  Aunt  M  — —  I  often 
think  of  her.  Since  I  have  lost  my  only  tooth  I 
think  I  resemble  her  in  her  old  age.  You  can 
have  no  idea  how  the  loss  of  my  teeth  has  affected 
my  speech  and  appearance.  But  the  toothache 
I  shall  have  no   more!     The  vessel   is   under   sail 


64  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

and  I  must  lay   aside   my  pen!     Adieu!   all,  all." 

So  closes  the  first  journal  the  only  reference  to 
months  of  excruciating  suffering  from  tic-doulou- 
reux  during  which  an  ignorant  surgeon  advised  the 
extraction  one  after  another  of  the  few  teeth  which 
had  remained  after  the  salivation  of  two  years  be- 
fore— in  that  brief  sentence;  with  its  character- 
istic presentation  of  the  bright  side  of  the  loss, 
permanent  freedom  from  toothache!  The  last 
few  pages  are  an  epitome  of  her  life — always  look- 
ing to  "the  regions  beyond" — the  need  beyond — 
the  attainment  beyond.  The  next  month's  record 
shows  how  she  did  in  those  early  years  as  she  con- 
tinued to  do  to  the  end — saw  the  point  of  peculiar 
need — went  forward  to  encounter  and  overcome 
the  first  obstacles — sought  helpers  in  the  work 
and,  when  it  was  organized  and  ready  for  transfer, 
left  it  in  their  hands.  In  Mackinaw,  as  wherever 
she  taught,  her  school  was  open  to  the  poorest  and 
most  degraded.  If  unable  to  pay  they  were  freely 
received,  and  so  great  was  the  confidence  of  parents 
in  her  judgment  and  influence  that  Mr.  Stuart  and 
other  wealthy  and  aristocratic  gentlemen  allowed 
their  own  children  to  attend  as  paying  pupils,  as- 
sured that  they  were  safe  with  any  associates  un- 
der Miss  Chappell's  care.  At  this  time  she  was 
not  quite  twenty-five  years  of  age,  her  slight  form 
racked    by    neuralgia,    and    nourished  only  by  the 


MACKINAW  JOURNALS  65 

food  she  could  assimilate  within  an  hour  after  eat- 
ing, as  she  rarely  retained  anything  on  her  stomach 
for  a  longer  time,  yet  full  of  cheer  and  buoyancy. 
It  was  not  strange  that  she  won  from  those  about 
her  tender  watchful  care,  and  that  rich  and  poor, 
missionaries  and  men  of  the  world,  sought  her 
friendship  and  counsel,  and  went  to  her  little  school 
room  as  to  a  shrine. 


CHAPTER  V 

TRIP  TO  NEW  YORK  TO  SECURE  TEACHERS  FOR  THE 
INDIAN  COUNTRY 

"August  ii,  1832. 
"Mrs.  Ferry  left  very  abruptly,  so  that  I  had  no 
time  to  write  letters  except  a  short  one  of  intro- 
duction to  my  brother's  family,  and  but  for  my 
scrap-book,  filled  at  times  when  from  weakness  I 
must  retire  to  my  little  room,  I  could  have  sent 
nothing.  I  hope  Mrs.  Ferry  may  spend  a  little 
time  with  you.  She  has  been  a  kind  attentive 
friend.  I  feel  under  great  obligation  to  all  the  dear 
mission  family.  In  them  God  has  designed  to  make 
up  to  me  in  a  measure,  the  loss  of  my 'father's 
house.' 

"August  13th.  How  swiftly  time  is  passing. 
Everything  without  and  within  admonishes  me  that 
what  is  done  for  eternity  must  be  done  quickly. 
My  health  for  the  few  weeks  past  has  been  pecu- 
liarly feeble.  I  think  the  climate  of  Mackinaw 
almost  too  severe.  But  when  I  am  weakest  then 
I  am   strongest.      Christ    Jesus  is  all  my  salvation 

and  all  my  desire.      I   am    wonderfully  sustained. 

m 


A  TRIP  TO  M-ir  YORK 

My  school  now  numbers  fifty-five.  It  is  in  a  very 
interesting  state.  A  desire  to  improve  is  mani- 
fested by  all.      A  great   work,  only  the   wisdom   of 

God  can  direct  aright.  Two  or  three  more  teach- 
ers are  greatly  needed  for  this  region.  As  soon  as 
any  one  arrives  I  shall  look  upon  it  as  an  indi- 
cation for  me  to  leave  Mackinaw  for  the  purpose 
of  opening  another  school  should  my  health  per- 
mit. I  am  a  pilgrim  and  sojourner  having  no 
abiding  city  here. 

"August  23d.  This  evening  had  a  prayer-meet- 
ing in  my  room.  Thursday  evening  prayer-meet- 
ings are  sacred  seasons.  How  many  fervent  prayers 
have  on  these  evenings  been  lodged  in  the  court 
of  heaven  by  my  dear  mother,  and  they  are  now 
realized  in  answers  of  peace  by  her  child.  What 
an  inheritance  is  ours  who  are  the  children  of  pious 
parents.  How  poor  is  gold!  how  empty  is  fame! 
how  low  any  honor  but  that  which  cometh  from 
God!  But  a  pious  mother's  prayers  shall  be  had 
in  everlasting  remembrance. 

"August  25th.  I  was  invited  to  the  Fort  last 
evening.      A  large  party  were   assembled   in   Gen. 

quarters.      The  room  was  hung  with  flags  and 

everything  appeared  in  military  splendor.  When 
I  heard  the  General  say  that  since  he  entered 
the  army  he  had  spent  twenty-five  thousand  dol- 
lars   in    gambling,     I    felt    indeed    that  the    'things 


68  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

that  are  highly  esteemed  among  men  are  abomi- 
nation in  the  sight  of  God. '  The  truth  of  Jesus 
never  seems  so  precious  as  when  contrasted  with 
those  things  which  are  held  in  estimation  by  the 
children  of  earth.      Phantoms  of  a  day! 

"September  14th.  Have  been  confined  to  my 
room  for  several  days  on  account  of  ill  health. 
Feel  clear  that  God  calls  me  to  resign  my  school 
at  least  for  a  time.  Oh!  my  Father  Thou  wilt 
direct!  If  I  am  compelled  to  leave  this  interesting 
field,  do  Thou  raise  up  others  to  fill  it  better. 
Do  what  Thou  wilt  and  my  soul  shall  rejoice  in  it. 
Have  decided    that  God  leads  me    homeward. 

"September  17th.  To-day  I  expect  to  leave 
Mackinaw,  where  I  have  labored  with  delight,  and 
where  God  has  manifestly  appeared  to  bless  and 
sustain,  and  now  oh!  God  go  with  me!  Thou 
knowest  all  my  weakness,  all  my  infirmities,  all 
my  wants. 

"September  1 8th.  This  morning  at  six  o'clock 
left  Mackinaw.  Little  wind  which  prevented  us 
from  losing  sight  of  the  island  for  some  time. 
Dear  friends,  your  kindness  has  endeared  you  to 
my  heart  and,  may  God  return  to  you  what  you 
have  measured  to  me. 

"September  20th.  Last  night  quite  a  storm. 
This  morning  calm  and  fair  wind. 


A  TRIP  TO  HEW  YORK 

"September   2$th.     Several  days  have    el 
since  I  laid  aside  my  pen,  and  t<><>k  refuge    from 

seasickness  in  my  berth.  After  beating  about  and 
contending  with  winds  and  waves  for  two  days  we 
at  length  found  a  harbor  in  which  we  have  remained 
for  two  days  more,  and  are  now  quietly  waiting  for 

a  favorable  wind  to  carry  us  out.  Danger  has 
been  great,  but  now  we  are  again  cheered  by  the 
light  of  the  sun  and  made  to  rejoice  that  there  is  a 
God  in  heaven  who  4Heareth  the  young  ravens 
when  they  cry. ' 

"Lake  Huron  unknown  islands).  This  harbor  I 
shall  name  Hope  for  here  we  'Have  hoped  in  the 
Lord,  who  saved  us  out  of  our  distresses. ' 

"September  26th.  The  sun  shines  brightly  but 
the  winds  are  still  contrary  and  we  consequently 
detained  in  this  harbor.  This  is  the  fourth  day. 
Our  situation  is  truly  interesting.  The  number  0! 
souls  on  board  the  Supply  is  only  seven — two  of 
whom  are  dear  brothers  in  Christ — one  a  native 
Indian,  another  a  redeemed  sailor  taken  from  the 
lowest  depths  of  sin.  A  Catholic,  with  his  rosary 
and  crucifix,  the  third,  the  fourth,  a  Universalis. 
the  fifth  a  mission  scholar  unreconciled  to  God. 
Our  field  of  labor  was  not  closed  when  we  left  Mac- 
kinaw. We  have  morning  and  evening  worship 
and  all  on  board  attend.  Our  cabin  has  been  a 
Bethel  to  me. 


70  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"September  27th.  Still  lying  at  anchor  desiring 
much  a  favorable  breeze  to  drive  us  out  of  this 
nook.  Rocky  islands  hedge  us  in  on  every  side. 
The  captain  fears  to  make  an  attempt  to  pass  out 
until  the  wind  is  fair.  Oh!  Thou  who  dost  hold 
them  in  Thine  own  hand  give  us  a  quiet  and  ac- 
quiescent frame  of  mind.  In  thanksgiving  and 
patience  may  my  soul  be  hopeful. 

"2  o'clock.  Our  vessel  is  now  safely  under 
way.  Three  canoes  filled  with  Indian  voyagers 
have  just  passed  us,  all  they  possess  embarked  in 
those  light  canoes,  swimming  like  swans  over  the 
waves. 

"September  28th.  After  having  put  out  a  few 
miles  last  evening,  the  wind  rose  and  we  made  our 
way  back  to  our  harbor,  which  for  five  days  has 
sheltered  us  so  kindly  from  the  storm.  This  morn- 
ing at  six  o'clock  our  anchor  was  again  raised  and 
our  sails  spread  against  the  wind  which  in  four 
hours  drove  us  in  again,  and  here  night  finds  us 
waiting.  Ten  days  from  Mackinaw,  only  three 
days  sail!  Our  provisions  begin  to  run  low  but 
He  who  feedeth  the  young  ravens  will  not  forget 
that  we  have  need.  'Our  Rock  is  the  Lord.' 
In  His  name  will  we  trust!  Prospect  of  a  severe 
storm.  What  thanksgiving  should  we  render  for 
this  safe  harbor? 


A  TRIP  TO  NEIV  YORK  71 

"September  29th.    This  morning  with  a  fair  wind 

we  were  permitted  again  to  set  out  from   the  har- 
bor which  protected  as  from  the  storm  of  the  night. 

Arc   now    rapidly  Bailing    before    the    wind    toward 
Detroit.      'Thus  saith  the  Lord,   I  will  never     1< 
thee  nor  forsake  thee, '    and  where  He  is  there  must 
be  Life. 

ptember  30th.  About  sunset  last  evening  our 
fair  prospects  were  all  overcast.  Dark  clouds  and 
}>  waters  compassed  us  about.  At  nine  o'clock 
it  was  found  that  we  were  near  land,  and  the  dark- 
ness prevented  our  ascertaining  how  we  were  sail- 
ing. By  soundings  our  danger  appeared  to  in- 
crease. Our  only  hope  was  in  God  and,  He  heard 
and  delivered  our  souls.  This  morning  we  entered 
the  St.  Clair  River,  have  had  a  calm  day  and  our 
wants  supplied  by  provision  sent  from  land.  Never 
before  have  I  known  a  scarcity  of  food. 

"October  1st.  This  morning  with  a  fair  wind  we 
passed  out  of  the  river  and  are  now  passing  rapidly 
through  the  lake  within  a  few  miles  of  Detroit. 
I  rd  be  with  me  as  I  mingle  for  a  little  time  with 
Christians  of  this  city.  Go  with  and  direct  me  in 
all  my  conversation.  Twelve  days  from  Macki- 
naw! 

"October  2nd.  Last  evening  about  sunset  ar- 
rived in   Detroit.     The  scenery   as   we  approach 


72  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

is  beautifully  romantic.      A  Christian  brother  called 

and  took  us  to  the  house  of  Brother  H where 

we  were  most  cordially  received.      Rested    quietly 
on  land. 

"October  3d.  With  a  fair  wind  we  set  sail  from 
Detroit  last  evening  and  anchored  a  little  below 
the  city.  This  morning  set  sail  for  Buffalo.  Thus 
far  the  Lord  has  favored  us  with  a  strong  breeze 
which  is  bearing  us  onward  at  seven  miles  an  hour. 

"Is  it  a  reality?  Shall  I  again  be  permitted  to 
meet  the  dear  friends  of  my  childhood?  Much  as 
I  love  them  I  have  cheerfully  given  them  up,  and 
much  as  I  long  to  see  them  what  pain  it  has  cost 
me  to  be  compelled  to  leave  that  dear  field  of  labor. 

"October  6th.  Left  Buffalo  in  the  mail  coach 
for  the  purpose  of  visiting  dear  Christian  friends 
at  Fort  Niagara.  Reached  their  place  of  residence 
at  about  five  in  the  evening,  where  I  was  most 
cordially  received  by  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Eaton. 
How  cheering  and  delightful  intercourse  with  such 
friends! 

"October  7th.  I  am  led  to  bless  God  for  this  in- 
terview. May  our  conversation  be  in  heaven,  and 
our  profiting  appear  unto  all. 

"October  9th.  To-day  we  propose  to  open  the 
book  of  Revelations  as  a  subject  for  study  during 
my  stay  at  the  Fort.      Lord     God    open   cur  eyes 


A  TRIP  TO  NEIV  YORK 

that  we  may  'behold  wondrous  things  out  of  Thy 
law!'  'The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds  is  like  to 
that  above.'  Yes!  truly,  for  the  joy  of  heaven 
will  be  in  having  fellowship  with  the  Father  and 
the  Sun,  through  the  uniting  bond  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  whom  all  who  in  truth  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  are  made  even  on  earth  to  sit  together  'in 
heavenly  places  in  Christ.  Strong  bond  indeed 
which  binds  together  the  children  of  the  Kingdom! 
Indissoluble  and  precious!  'Many  waters  cannot 
quench,  nor  the  floods  drown.'  Even  the  King 
of  terrors  cannot  destroy  the  principle  of  Love 
which  unites  in  one  and  binds  to  the  throne  of 
God  those  who  are  Heirs  of  salvation. 

"Can  a  man  who  only  conceives  wickedness  be  as 
useful  an  agent  in  the  enemy's  cause  as  one  who 
not  only  thinks  and  plans  but  also  executes  with 
promptitude  and  decision,  and  day  and  night  works 
deceit5  May  we  not  on  the  same  principle  say 
that  the  good  thoughts  of  the  Christian  unless  they 
prompt  him  to  action  will  do  but  little  to  forward 
the  cause  of  the  Redeemer.  To  think  and  to  act 
are  two  things.  Jesus  says  not  He  that  thinketh 
to  do,  but  *He  that  doeth  the  will  of  My  Father' 
'shall  inherit  the  promises.' 

"October  15th.  This  day  I  expect  to  leave  the 
Fort  and  resume  my  journey.  Lord  God  of  Is- 
rael be  Thou  my  Shepherd.     As  these  dear  friends 


74  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

have  so  kindly  ministered  to  me  in  temporal  things, 
give  them  every  spiritual  blessing. 

"October  2 1 st.  'Oh!  God  Thou  art  my  God.  I 
will  praise  Thee.  My  father's  God  I  will  exalt 
Him!'  Thou  hast  permitted  me  to  return  to  the 
home  of  my  childhood  and  be  folded  in  the  arms 
of  affectionate  friends.  While  I  am  with  them, 
oh,  my  Father,  wilt  Thou  give  me  wisdom  and 
grace  to  exhibit  Christ  Jesus  as  the  Beloved 
of  my  soul.  Give  me  language  and  wisdom  to 
plead  the  cause  of  the  heathen  among  those  in  the 
sunshine  of  gospel  light. 

"October  25th.  How  kindly  dost  Thou  my 
Father  in  heaven  supply  all  my  wants  and  cause 
Thy  children  to  minister  to  my  necessities.  To- 
day a  dear  brother  called  and  took  me  to  his  house 
to  spend  the  day  with  his  family.  Our  conversa- 
tion has  been  much  upon  the  subject  of  missions. 
Infant  schools  were  not  forgotten.  Lord  send 
Thy  spirit  to  inspire  a  zeal  which  shall  not  tire  in 
this  precious  cause  for  which  Jesus  left  the  throne 
of  God  and  the  glory  of  heaven. 

"Seek  not  to  'please  yourselves.'  Blessed  Mas- 
ter how  little  are  Thy  commands  obeyed.  Chris- 
tian what  hast  thou  to  do  any  more  with  idolized 
self?  To  crucify.  Yes!  to  crucify  with  its  affec- 
tions and  lusts.  How?  asks  the  carnal  mind. 
'Through   Christ   strengthening  me, '    lean.     Yes! 


A  TRIP  TO  NEW  YORK  78 

and  by  that  grace  I  will.     Upon  the  cross  of  Christ 

let  every  vile  affection  perish,  and  to  Jesus  and 
His  cross  alone  shall  all  the  conquest  be  ascribed. 

"To-morrow  I  expect  to  visit  my  dear  brother  at 
Fairport. 

"  My  soul  is  moved  within  me  when  I  think  of  the 
field  I  have  left.  Father  teach  me  to  plead  for 
them.  Hear  my  prayer  and  send  laborers.  Teach 
Thy  little  child.  Let  me  not  move  but  by  Thy 
command.  Shall  I  go  or  remain?  Do  with  me 
as  seems  good  in  Thy  sight.  Glorify  Thyself. 
'Our  sufficiency  is  in  Him.' 

"November  5th,  1832.  Well  may  I  ask  'What 
shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  His  benefits' 
and  can  I  not  truly  add  'I  will  take  the  cup  of 
salvation  and  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 
How  shall  I  find  language  to  express  my  thanksgiv- 
ing to  my  Father  in  heaven  for  His  unbounded 
goodness.  Language  cannot  express  what  the 
soul  feels.  'It  glows  within  my  ravished  heart, 
and  Thou,  oh  God,  can  read  it  there!'  This  day 
completes  my  twenty-fifth  year,  a  year  of  wonder- 
ful mercies.  Under  my  sister's  roof  in  my  native 
town  I  am  permitted  to  enjoy  it.  One  year 
since  in  a  heathen  settlement — without  any  pros- 
pect of  again  mingling  in  this  dear  circle. 

"November  7th.  This  is  not  my  rest.  I  have 
no  home  but  heaven.      Lord  teach  me  what    Thou 


76  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

wouldst  have  me  do.  Should  it  be  my  duty  to 
spend  the  winter  in  visiting  different  schools,  do 
Thou  accompany  me,  and  direct  all  my  steps  in 
wisdom. 

"November  15th.  'Ask  and  it  shall  be  given.' 
"Grace,  infinite  grace!  Angelic  powers  do  ye 
comprehend  it?  No!  You  also  'desire  to  look 
into'  but  your  high  intelligences  cannot  fathom 
the  'Height  and  depth,  and  length  and  breadth  of 
redeeming  grace  and  dying  love. '  This  day  I  have 
peculiar  mercies  to  recount.  My  dear  aged  aunt 
speaks  of  joy  unspeakable  and  'The  liberty  of  the 
gospel. '  The  time  has  nearly  passed  which  was 
to  be  spent  with  my  friends  in  Geneseo.  Father 
be  with  me  in  separating  from  them  as  I  go  not 
knowing  whither. 

'When  thou  vowest  a  vow,  delay  not  to  pay  it.' 
Under  what  solemn  obligations  do  I  rest  to  devote 
all,  all.  Wilt  Thou,  Oh  my  Father,  permit  me  to 
see  my  desire  accomplished  for  the  children  of  the 
desert.  Is  it  not  Thy  work?  Three  teachers 
♦have  offered  themselves.  Expect  to  leave  for  Utica 
soon. 

"November  15th.  On  the  canal  boat.  My 
Father  as  I  move  among  strangers  wilt  Thou  give 
me  favor  in  their  eyes,  and  if  Thou  canst  accom- 
plish anything  by  me,  although  the  trembling  op- 
posing flesh  shrinks  from  action,  yet  Lord  my  heart 


A  TRIP  TO  hIElV  YORK  77 

does  say  'Here   am    I,  direct   and    I    will   follow.' 

"New  York,  December  21st. 

"Surely  I  have  been  led  in  a  path  I  had  not 
known  and  one  I  should  have  avoided.  Deep 
waters  have  encompassed  me  yet  the  God  of  Israel 
has  caused  a  path  to  be  opened  in  the  deep,  and  I 
am  permitted  this  morning  to  'Walk  through  on 
dry  land. ' 

"Last  night  had  a  severe  attack.  How  often  am 
I  admonished  by  disease  to  'set  my  house  in  or- 
der.'  The  sustaining  of  my  body  in  this  diseased 
and  deranged  state  is  sufficient  proof,  had  I  no 
other,  that  God  is  almighty  and  will  do  what  He 
will  with  His  own.  Yesterday  visited  Mrs.  Beth- 
une's  Infant  school.  My  heart  yearns  with  intense 
desire  over  the  dear  infants  of  the  desert.  My 
hope  for  them  is  in  God.  They  are  His.  He  is 
pledged  for  their  deliverance. 

"Doubting  unbelieving  heart,  do  you  not  think 
Jehovah  will  accomplish  what  He  has  proposed? 
Jesus  shall  'see  the  travail  of  His  soul'  and  more 
still  is  added,  'He  shall  be  satisfied.'  Shall  He? 
Then  may  every  little  one  lift  up  the  head  and 
work  in  full  assurance  of  faith  knowing  that 
Immanuel  will  not  'be  satisfied  when  a  few  are 
born  into  the  Kingdom.  Open  the  eyes  of  Thy 
children.  'Speak  Lord!  for  Thy  servant  heareth. ' 
"January  i,   1833,  Allen  St.,  New  York. 


78  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"It  is  profitable  to  recount  the  mercies  which 
have  marked  the  past  year.  How  changed  the 
scene  compared  with  last  January.  Then  in  the 
depth  of  the  wilderness  surrounded  by  minds 
darkened  by  sin,  and  unenlightened  by  truth;  now 
in  the  midst  of  a  Christian  circle  with  all  the  re- 
finements and  luxuries  which  a  gay  and  dissipated 
city  can  present.  My  soul  is  moved  within  me. 
Father  Thy  children  here  are  asleep  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  missions. 

"Infinite  forbearance  that  can  see  His  laws  tram- 
pled under  foot  and  condemned,  and  the  precious 
blood  of  His  Beloved  poured  out  as  an  atonement 
for  the  rebel  'esteemed  as  an  unholy  thing'  and 
all  that  a  Father's  love  can  dictate  to  reclaim  and 
rescue  made  a  'reproach  and  a  by-word.'  'Be- 
cause I  am  God  and  not  man,  therefore  the  sons  of 
Jacob  are  not  consumed. ' 

"January  4th.  Weeks  have  elapsed  since  I  came 
to  this  city.  When  I  have  finished  the  work  upon 
which  I  came,  then  Father  conduct  me  to  my 
friends  in  safety.  It  is  delightful  to  see  God  caus- 
ing two  leaved  gates  to  open  before  the  approach 
of  one  of  His  little  children.  'The  secret  of  the 
Lord  is  with  them  that  fear  Him. '  T  am  poor  and 
needy  but  the  Lord  thinketh  upon  me.' 

"Geneseo,  March  6.  A  few  short  days  have  been 
spent  with  my  dear  sister.      Never  did  my  friends 


A  TRIP  TO  NEIV  YORK 

appear  more  lovely,  and  the  delights  of  refined 
Christian  intercourse  so  precious.  But  I  hasten 
from  them  gladly.  The  souls  of  the  perishing 
heathen  are  still  dearer.  Shall  the  Christian  talk 
of  self-denial  when  immortal  souls  are  to  be  won 
to  the  Redeemer  and  eternal  life  secured?  God 
Almighty  go  Thou  with  me  and  I  shall  not  want. 
Select  and  send  those  only  into  this  field  who  stand 
so  strong  in  the  Lord  that  their  'Labor  shall  not 
be  in  vain. ' 

This  trip  to  the  East  must  have  been  one  of 
peculiar  interest,  as  it  was  certainly  in  many  re- 
spects of  great  success.  A  society  called  the  CJiap- 
pcll  Infant  ScJiool  Society  was  formed  in  Utica 
which  sent  out  and  supported  several  teachers. 
Many  new  acquaintances  were  formed  and  some 
of  the  friendships  which  then  had  their  beginning 
were  lifelong.  In  New  York  City  Miss  Chappell 
was  first  the  guest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Hall — 
old  Geneseo  schoolmates.  Mr.  Hall  was  at  that 
time  secretary  of  the  A.  H.  M.  S.,  and  entered 
into  the  plans  of  the  enthusiastic  teacher  and  mis- 
sionary with  great  interest.  In  the  home  of  Mr. 
Finney  then  pastor  of  the  Tabernacle  church,  she 
found  another  delightful  resting-place,  and  entered 
in  to  his  work  there,  as  she  had  done  in  Rochester. 
As  far  as  strength  permitted,  she  visited  schools  and 
studied  methods,  and  wherever  she  went  as  a  guest 


80  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

or  on  business  she  presented  the  need  of  the  open- 
ing northwest,  and  tried  to  enlist  men  and  women 
of  consecrated  spirit  for  service  on  the  frontier. 
She  was,  during  the  winter,  as  at  Mackinaw  and 
later,  subject  to  attacks  of  hemorrhage  of  the 
stomach  which  prostrated  her  utterly,  but  with 
indomitable  courage  she  resumed  her  search  for 
teachers  as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  leave  her 
room,  and  began  at  once  to  make  arrangements 
for  the  opening  of  schools  at  several  points.  On 
her  return  from  New  York  she  visited  Dr.  James' 
family  in  Albany  and  went  with  Dr.  James  to  see 
Miss  Julia  Preston  whose  religious  views  and  ex- 
periences were  somewhat  like  her  own.  So,  en- 
riched by  new  friendships,  with  a  circle  of  Chris- 
tian women  pledged  to  sustain  the  Infant  schools 
that  should  be  planted,  she  set  out  on  her  return 
feeble  of  body  but  strong  of  soul;  the  thought 
always  in  mind  that  her  time  of  service  must  be 
short  and  that  she  must  hasten  to  lay  foundations 
on  which  others  might  build. 


CHAPTER  VI 

RETURN  TO  MACKINAW    I  833 

The  following  pages  from  the  account  of  her  re- 
turn to  Mackinaw  are  a  revelation  of  the  shrinking 
woman.  From  them,  one  would  judge  that  this 
was  her  first  long  journey  without  the  escort  of 
some  older  friend.  In  these  days  of  constant  and 
rapid  travel  there  would  be  nothing  unusual  in  a 
young  lady's  making  a  trip  of  many  weeks  by  her- 
self, but  this  was  sixty  years  ago. 

Brave  of  heart  as  Miss  Chappel  was,  she  evi- 
denly  felt  keenly  her  unprotected  condition  and  the 
perils  of  the  way  were  very  real  to  her. 

"Rochester,  April  1,  1833.  Leave  Rochester 
this  evening  at  four  o'clock. 

"Dear  home  friends: 

"April  2nd.  I  design  in  this  book  to  note  pass- 
ing occurrences,  as  I  have  opportunity,  and  give 
you  a  hasty  account  of  the  mercies  which  mark  my 
path  as  I  become  a  stranger  and  pilgrim  who  tar- 
ries but  for  a  night.  I  would  give  thanks  to  our 
Father  in  heaven  who  enables  me  to  say  'all  is 
peace,'    peace    which    DO   earthly    enjoyment   can 

81 


82  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

give,  peace  which  the  world  cannot  take  away.  I 
hear  the  voice  of  my  Master  saying  'Daughter  be 
of  good  cheer.  Lo!  I  am  with  you.,  Shall  I 
then  fear?  Forbid  it,  oh  my  Saviour,  and  let  me 
not  dishonor  Thee  by  distrusting  Thy  care,  although 
all  before  is  dark,  since  I  have  a  written  promise 
from  Thee.  Let  me  not  doubt  but  go  on  my  way 
rejoicing,  knowing  that  'Faith  is  substance.'  Yes! 
it  is  firm  unyielding  'substance. ' 

This  morning  Brother  King  took  me  in  his  own 
wagon  to  Byron  where  I  met  Miss  Owen,  whose 
heart  the  Lord  has  opened  to  assist  in  the  work. 
She  closes  her  school  in  Bryon  to-day  and  will 
prepare  to  follow  me  soon.  'The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd  I  shall  not  want. ' 

"April  3rd.  Left  Byron  about  noon  for  Buffalo. 
The  roads  much  better  than  I  had  anticipated. 
Rode  all  night,  reached  Buffalo  about  eight  o'clock, 
just  in  time  there  to  catch  a  hasty  meal.  Took  a 
seat  in  the  stage  again  for  Fredonia.  Traveling 
bad  upon  the  lake  shore  but  I  was  most  kindly 
provided  for.  Found  myself  seated  beside  a  Chris- 
tian stranger  who  kindly  took  charge  of  my  baggage 
and  entertained  me  with  Christian  converse.  'He 
is  faithful  who  has  promised. ' 

"Reached  Fredonia  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  where  I  designed  to  spend  the  two  re- 
maining days  of  the  week  with  the  Sabbath.     All 


RETURN  TO  MACK IN A IV  83 

before  is  dark  BO  fur  as  vision  is  concerned.  I 
doubt  not  'He  who  has  delivered  will  deliver.' 
■I  shall  yet  sing  of  mercy.1 

"April  4th.  In  Fredonia  met  an  early  friend  with 
whom  many  hours  in  childhood  had  been  spent. 
A  few  weeks  since  she  yielded  up  her  affections  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Her  husband  opposes  the 
work  of  God  in  her  heart.  I  trust  our  intercourse 
may  not  be  altogether  in  vain.  Our  dear  cousin, 
Mrs.  Merrick,  received  me  with  the  warmth  of 
feeling  she  has  ever  expressed.  Much  kindness 
from  all. 

"April  8th.  A  dark  stormy  morning.  Took  seat 
in  the  stage  at  an  early  hour  for  Cleveland.  Re- 
cognized in  the  only  passenger  beside  myself  an 
elder  in  the  Baptist  church  in  Fredonia  whom  I 
had  met  the  day  before  in  church.  He  was  going 
all  the  way  to  Cleveland  and  tendered  his  protect- 
ing care.  What  provision  is  this!  'It  is  better  to 
trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in 
princes.'  Rode  nearly  a  hundred  miles  without 
being  interrupted  in  our  Christian  conversation  by 
a  third  passenger.  How  strong  the  bond  which 
unites  in  one  the  children  of  God.  In  every 
country  speaking  the  same  language  which  is  to 
the  'Jews  a  stumbling  block  and  to  the  Greeks 
foolishness,  but  to  them  that  believe  the  wisdom 
of  God  and  the  power  of  God.'  Roads  remark- 
ably good,  all  well. 


84  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"April  9th.  Cleveland,  4  o'clock.  Just  arrived 
much  fatigued.  Had  almost  hoped  that  a  boat 
bound  for  Detroit  would  be  in  this  port.  Father 
I  am  indeed  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land.  Must 
here  part  with  my  kind  protector.  He  has  taken 
the  whole  charge  of  luggage  and  bills  to  this  place 
and  will  engage  passage  and  settle  my  fare  to 
Perrysburg  at  which  place  I  hope  to  be  in  about 
twenty-four  hours.  You  will,  my  dear  friends, 
give  thanks  with  me  for  the  constant  care  of  my 
Father  in  heaven  which  in  so  marked  a  manner  is 
exercised  over  me. 

"April  10th.  Set  off  at  five  this  morning  from 
Cleveland.  A  gentleman  and  lady  were  my  compan- 
ions to  Elyria,  where  I  took  breakfast  with  the  pros- 
pect of  pursuing  my  journey  alone,  but  after  break- 
fast a  gentleman  came  in  and  inquired  if  I  was  go- 
ing in  the  western  stage,  saying  he  should  find 
pleasure  in  taking  charge  of  my  luggage,  which 
from  his  candid  appearance  I  felt  no  hesitation  in 
allowing  him  to  do.  I  found  in  conversation  that 
the  young  man  had  been  strongly  beset  by  the 
adversary  of  the  soul,  and  from  being  convinced 
that  he  was  a  sinner  and  must  perish  without  a 
Saviour  he  had  almost  come  to  the  resolution,  so 
he  said,  of  throwing  himself  upon  the  general 
mercy  of  God,  believing  that,  with  the  whole 
world  he  should  find  a  Saviour  not  from  but  in  his 


RE  TURN   TO  MAL  KIN  A I  i 

sins.  Could  God  create  men  to  damn  them?  We 
conversed  upon  the  plan  of  salvation  upon  which 
his  mind  was  dark,  but  in  the  Word  he  seemed  to 
see  more  clearly,  and  doubted  much  the  possibility 
of  a  sinner  being  saved  without  a  change  of  heart; 
indeed,  he  at  length  said  it  could  not  be  and  prom- 
ised to  give  himself  to  the  work  of  faith  by  believ- 
ing what  he  should  find  in  the  Word  of  God, 

"Oh!  the  blindness  of  man!  Out  of  Christ  'God 
is  a  consuming  fire.'  At  four  o'clock  my  traveling 
companion  left  me,  and  now  within  sixteen  miles 
of  Maumee  swamp,  thirty  miles  in  length,  a 
stranger,  a  new  coachman,  a  dark  night — a  slight 
trial  of  faith.  Found  great  peace  in  believing  A 
Saviour's  presence  is  Life.  His  loving  kindness  is 
better  than  life.  In  meditating  upon  His  promises 
forgot  that  I  was  alone.  The  sixteen  miles  were 
soon  now  over.  At  twelve  o'clock  at  night  found 
myself  at  the  entrance  of  this  dark  forest,  but  my 
heart  was  fired,  trusting  in  the  Lord,  and  I  could 
truly  say  4I  fear  no  evil. '  The  landlord  told  me 
one  gentleman  was  to  be  my  only  companion.  He 
was  very  kind,  spoke  not  one  word  to  me  until 
morning  light,  when  I  discovered  that  he  was  a 
foreigner,  an  Irishman.  He  said  he  believed  he 
had  been  very  poor  company,  but  he  did  not  like 
to  speak  lest  I  should  think  him  rude  as  he  was  a 
stranger.      So  you  see  how    kindly  God    has    pro- 


86  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PUKItK 

vided.  He  has  the  hearts,  the  lips  of  all  in  His 
hands.  'I  will  magnify  His  name  forever,  for  in 
the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting  strength.' 

"April  iith.  Found  a  log  cabin  where  we  took 
breakfast  about  seven  o'clock,  within  sixteen  miles 
of  my  dear  brother's  house  in  Perrysburg,  at  which 
place  I  arrived  about  twelve. 

"Brother  Joshua  soon  presented  his  infant  daugh- 
ter about  a  week  old,  and  little  Emma  had  many 
kisses  for  me  and  many  inquiries  after  the  uncles 
and  cousins.  My  soul  is  drawn  out  in  prayer  for 
Perrysburg.  How  much  might  here  be  accom- 
plished by  the  active  decided  efforts  of  Christian 
business  men!  These  are  the  men  that  are  most 
needed  in  the  rising  and  flourishing  towns  and  vil- 
lages of  the  West.  Professional  men  and  mechanics 
could  do  much,  very  much  for  Christ  and  souls 
here.  Oh!  that  Christians  did  seek  those  things 
which  are  Jesus  Christ's  and  not  their  own 

"How  much  my  sisters  might  effect  in  the  capac- 
ity of  Infant,  Sabbath  and  common  school  teachers. 
In  every  town  and  village  there  is  room.  Great 
Christian  simplicity  and  wisdom  is  needed  in  those 
who  emigrate  to  this  western  world,  for  the  ostensi- 
ble object  of  doing  good.  The  people  are  preju- 
diced against  eastern  men  for  the  most  natural  of 
reasons.  They  show  to  a  great  degree  a  feeling 
of  superiority  and  pride,  which  wherever  exhibited 


RFTUKN  TO  MACK1KAW  87 

will  produce  the  same  effect.  Human  nature  is 
the  same  among  the  civilized  and  savage,  ]>roud 
and  unbending,  unwilling  to  acknowledge  even  the 
Almighty  as  superior.  The  servant  of  Jesus,  then, 
by  way  of  contrast  should  be,  'Gentle,  easy  to  be 
entreated,  full  of  good  works, '  believing  that  godli- 
ness is  gain,  and  not  as  many  who  profess  to  fol- 
low Christ  appear  to  believe  that  gain  is  godli- 
ness. 

"The  probability  of  vessels  leaving  Detroit  in  a 
few  days  for  Mackinaw  must  prevent  a  long  stay 
with  these  dear  friends. 

"April  13th,  Saturday  morning.  In  some  doubt 
with  regard  to  duty.  If  I  remain  here  until  Mon- 
day, fear  the  vessels  will  leave  for  Mackinaw  be- 
fore I  reach  Detroit.  I  wait  the  direction  of  my 
Father  in  Heaven.  While  doubting  what  course 
to  pursue  for  the  day,  Brother  Joshua  came  in 
saying:  'Do  you  wish  to  leave  immediately?  if 
so  a  steamboat  will  leave  in  about  thirty  minutes 
which  will  be  in  Detroit  this  evening.'  This  was 
the  order  for  which  I  had  been  waiting.  It  was 
kind  that  a  boat  should  be  offered.  I  had  ridden 
so  far  in  the  stage  that  I  was  grateful  for  the 
change.  Twelve  o'clock  embarked  on  the  General 
Brady  which  plies  between  Perrysburg  and  Fort 
Gratiot,  seventy   miles  above    Detroit.     Adieu  to 

the  last  home  friend.  Mill  alone!  God  would 
try  me  in  this  respect! 


88  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"April  14th.  Reached  Detroit  in  safety  about 
twelve  at  night.  I  was  the  only  female  on  board, 
but  slept  in  my  cabin  as  securely  as  I  could  have 
done  anywhere.  So  sensibly  did  I  realize  my 
Father's  care  and  presence  I  forgot  that  I  was 
alone.  Sabbath  morning  the  captain  walked  with 
me  to  Mr.  Hastings,  where  I  was  most  kindly  re- 
ceived by  those  dear  friends  who  have  so  often 
ministered  to  my  comfort.  Upon  leaving  the  boat 
the  captain  informed  me  that  a  vessel  would  leave 
the  next  morning  for  Mackinaw,  said  he  had  en- 
gaged my  passage  and  asked  if  I  would  have  my 
baggage  sent  that  morning.  I  begged  that  it  might 
remain  until  after  the  Sabbath,  which  he  granted. 

"April  14th.      Head  wind,  cannot  go  to-day. 

"April  15th.  Upon  my  arrival  at  Detroit  learned 
that  Mr.  Sibley,  the  brother  whose  company  I  had 
expected  from  that  point  had  gone  into  Ohio  on 
business  which  would  detain  him  several  weeks; 
of  course  I  must  go  alone,  or  remain  here.  The 
path  of  duty  appeared  plain  and  I  anxiously  awaited 
a  change  of  wind  which  I  should  consider  as  a 
signal,  spent  the  intervening  time  very  pleasantly 
with  Christain  friends. 

"April  16th.  Fair  wind,  orders  for  sailing.  Here 
I  am,  my  dear  friends,  surrounded  by  a  crew  of 
coarse  sailors.  My  principal  companion  will  be 
Keton,  the  colored  cook.      I  am  not  alone.    There 


RETURN  TO  MACKINAW  89 

is  peace  in  believing.      Father   give   wisdom,  give 
understanding. 

"April  17th.  Little  wind,  still  in  the  river.  God 
has  done  great  things  for  me,  thanks  to  His  precious 
Love.  This  constitutes  my  joy,  and  I  am  happy 
in  a  situation  which  it  would  once  have  terrified  me 
to  have  imagined.  Read  Henry  Martyn  to-day. 
Oh!  that  the  number  of  such  disciples  might  be 
increased!  There  is  much  of  Christ  in  his  experi- 
ence. Read  the  word  with  great  delight.  Have 
a  'nearness  of  the  inheritance. '  Jesus  is  near  and 
I  need  nothing  more.  All  around  are  kind  and  re- 
spectful. 4It  is  better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to 
put  confidence  in  man. ' 

"April  1 8th.  A  fair  wind  is  now  bearing  me  to- 
ward the  land  of  darkness,  away  from  all  that  in 
other  days  I  have  clung  to  with  so  much  fondness. 
Had  I  ten  thousand  lives  I  would  gladly  offer  them 
for  this  service. 

"April  1 8th.  A  little  sea  sickness  to-day.  The 
motion  of  the  vessel  is  so  powerful  that  I  cannot 
command  my  pen.    "God  is  my  refuge  and  stength." 

"April  19th.  Kindly  preserved.  Suffer  but  lit- 
tle from  sickness,  enough  to  prevent  writing. 

"April  20th.  Lying  at  anchor  on  account  of 
head  wind.     Hope  to  reach  Mackinaw  to-morrow. 

"April  2 1st.    Fair  wind  this  morning  bearing  us 


90  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

rapidly  toward  Mackinaw.  My  heart  would  sink 
within  me,  in  view  of  the  field,  did  I  not  know  that 
through  Christ's  strength,  His  followers  are  made 
strong. 

"April  22th.  In  full  view  of  the  island.  'Truly 
God  is  good  and  His  tender  mercies  are  over  all 
His  works.'  Casting  anchor!  Safely  in  our  har- 
bor.    Give  thanks  to  God! 


CHAPTER  VII 

Opening  of  work  at  St.  Ignace 

"Mackinaw  June  5th  1833. 
"Expect  the  arrival  of  teachers  soon;  may  they 
be  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  Spent  last  night  at 
the  mission  house.  Dear  fellow  laborers!  How 
we  need  the  mighty  influence  of  the  Spirit.  Great 
unbelief  prevails.  No  one  layeth  hold  on  God  with 
Israel's  grasp.  Dear  sister  O —  is  apparently  sink- 
ing. She  has  spent  life  and  strength  in  the  mis- 
sion cause.  Has  'fought  a  good  fight. '  Her  crown 
is  in  view. 

"1  ith.  'Bless  the  Lord,  oh  my  soul,  and  all  that 
is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name.'  Have  been 
confined  to  my  room  several  days.  'When  am  I 
weak  then  am  I  strong.'  Enabled  to  cast  all  my 
care  upon  Jesus.  He  will  care  for  his  own  honor. 
His  own  work.  My  heart  has  been  cheered  and 
my  hands  strengthened  to-day  by  the  arrival  of 
Miss  Owen — a  teacher  from  Mackinaw.  'Delight 
thyself  in  the  Lord  and  He  shall  give  thee  the  de- 
sires of  thy  heart.  This  is  my  salvation  and  my 
joy.     All  my  desire  is  unto  thee.    Oh  most  Mighty. 


92  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"18th.  With  delight  I  have  been  permitted  to 
meet  two  sisters,  who  have  been  led  by  the  hand 
of  God  to  this  field  of  labor.  I  consider  the  arrival 
of  Miss  Plimpton,  the  Methodist  sister  as  a  special 
and  marked  answer  to  feeble  petitions.  She  will 
doubtless  go  to  Point  St.  Ignace.  Master,  shall 
mine  eyes  see  my  desire  with  regard  to  that  poor 
degraded  people?  Thanks  to  thy  name  for  the 
promise.  Jesus  'shall  see  the  travail  of  His  soul 
and  be  satisfied.'  Is  not  this  enough?  Daughter  of 
Zion  awake  lay  hold  on  strength. 

"19th.  Last  week  after  Miss  O's  arrival,  went 
to  the  Point,  four  miles  from  Mackinaw  to  see  if 
a  school  could  be  opened  there.  Never  have  I  wit- 
nessed such  scenes  of  wretchedness  and  want. 
About  one  hundred  and  eighty  inhabitants.  All 
Catholics  except  one  or  two  families.  French  and 
Indian  languages  alone  spoken  there.  Every  man 
in  the  settlement  a  confirmed  drunkard.  Mr.  B — 
who  is  a  native  of  Vermont,  was  formerly  in  the 
army — has  an  Indian  wife  and  five  very  interesting 
children,  is  very  anxious  to  have  a  school.  He  has 
offered  me  a  home  in  his  family  if  I  will  come  there 
and  teach.  The  case  of  this  man  interests  me  much. 
He  said  with  tears.  'Oh,  my  poor  children,  I 
often  lie  awake  at  night  and  cry  over  them.  I 
once  knew  the  love  of  God,  but  now  I  am  here  liv- 
ing in  sin. '      I  doubt  not  God  has  designs  of  mercy 


OPENING  OF  IVORK  AT  ST.  IGNACE  93 

for  this  place  although  they  fear  a  Protestant 
teacher  and  know  nothing  of  the  value  of  education. 
Spent  two  or  three  days  at  the  Point,  making  ar- 
rangements to  go  forward.  A  little  house  is  to  be 
fitted  up  and  an  effort  made  to  draw  into  it  those 
dear  perishing  lambs.  Jesus,  it  is  Thy  command 
'Feed  my  Lambs' ;  cannot  we  claim  Thy  promise? 

"20th.  Returned  to  Point  St.  Ignace  accom- 
panied by  sister  P — .     The  house  nearly  ready. 

"23rd.  Our  little  school-room  was  finished  on 
Saturday  and  we  determined  to  open  with  a  prayer- 
meeting  on  Sabbath.  Spoke  to  several  who  said 
they  would  attend.  Sabbath  morning  dark  and 
stormy  at  the  hour  appointed  and  observed  at 
home  for  the  assembling  of  the  saints.  We  entered 
our  schoolroom,  and  found  indeed  that  we  need 
not  'Go  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  the  father. '  The 
Master  Himself  was  with  us.  Two  or  three  Indians 
who  knew  His  law  took  an  active  part  in  the  meet- 
ing. Spirit  of  the  Eternal  God  breathe  upon  this 
mass  of  death.  Mr.  B —  led  in  prayer.  Another 
man,  a  Universalist,  read  the  tract  'Eternity.' 
We  appointed  another  meeting  for  Wednesday 
evening.      Master  direct ! 

"25th.  Storm  so  violent  yesterday  we  did  not 
open  our  school  but  began  this  morning.  To  our 
surprise  more  than  twenty  were  assembled,  five  or 
six  interesting   Indians  young  men  from  Sault  St. 


94  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

Marie.  From  Mackinaw  I  took  a  little  Catholic 
child  about  ten  years  old  whom  I  had  there  taught 
to  read  and  understand  English  and  French,  for 
my  interpreter.  It  was  an  interesting  circumstance 
for  me  to  receive  assistance  in  my  labors  so  soon 
from  one  whom  I  had  just  taught.  Literally  sow- 
ing and  reaping. 

"26th.  Nothing  could  be  more  interesting  to 
those  who  love  to  instruct  the  ignorant  than  the 
little  group  by  which  I  am  surrounded.  In  the 
family  are  four  dear  children.  They  cannot  as  yet 
understand  me,  but  are  improving  the  time.  In  a 
few  months  they  will  be  able  to  read  the  word  of 
God  in  English.  Quite  near  is  a  family  consisting 
of  a  father  and  four  motherless  children.  A  daugh- 
ter fourteen  years  old  has  the  care,  has  done  all  for 
the  family  in  the  way  of  housekeeping  for  the  last 
two  years.  Poor  children!  In  a  state  of  wretched- 
ness and  ignorance  beyond  thought.  I  have  two 
of  the  children  in  school,  the  two  eldest  are  obliged 
to  labor,  but  improve  every  leisure  moment  in  my 
room.  They  manifest  a  great  desire  to  learn  to 
read  and  in  a  few  months  will,  I  doubt  not,  be  able 
to  read  the  Holy  Bible.  To  know  and  fear  the 
Lord  is  all  that  I  desire  for  any  of  my  charge. 

"27th.  A  Christian  Indian  in  school  to-day. 
How  different  in  character  from  those  around  him. 
Visited  a  poor  woman  who  is  rapidly  wasting  away 


OPENING  OF  WORK  AT  ST.  IGNACE 

with  a  fever  sore,  which  has  spread  over  her  foot 
until  it  has  become  a  mass  of  putrefaction.  I  pre- 
pared her  some  rice  for  which  she  seemed  thankful. 
Miserable  woman  vainly  supposing  she  is  ready  for 
heaven  while  a  slave  to  sin.  She  begged  me  to 
call  again.  Lord  teach  me  in  what  manner  to  lead 
her  mind  to  Jesus  as  a  Savior. 

"28th.  A  beautiful  morning.  Every  thing  in 
nature  delightful.  All  God's  works  are  perfect,  but 
man — poor  degraded  child  of  perdition  how  art 
thou  fallen  from  that  perfection  in  which  thou  was 
created!  Angels  may  well  wonder  at  the  way  by 
which  thou  art  cleansed  and  made  a  partaker  of 
heavenly  purity.  Great  is  the  mystery!  Miss  P — 
returned  to  Mackinaw  yesterday.  My  Master's 
presence  is  enough.  Jesus  is  all  and  in  all.  Have 
written  to  the  Methodist  missionary  at  Sault  Str. 
Marie  for  a  native  teacher. 

In  a  little  hut  a  few  yards  from  my  schoolroom 
is  a  poor  hermit  bent  to  the  ground  with  age. 
Forty  years  he  has  lived  in  this  secluded  spot.  A 
rigid  Catholic,  a  Canadian  Frenchman. 

"30th.  Sabbath  evening.  Went  to  Mackinaw- 
yesterday.  Found  an  Indian  preacher  there  who 
accompanied  us  home.  Suieiy  in  this  God  has  ap- 
peared for  us.  'My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord 
and  my  spirit  hath  rejoiced  in  Jesus  my  Savior'  who 
manifests  Himself  in  this    desert    place.      I  ask  no 


96  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

greater  joy  on  the  earth  than  to  be  permitted  to  lead 
the  blind  to  the  light  and  teach  infant  voices  to 
lisp  the  praises  of  Jesus.  'Create  in  me  a  clean 
heart  oh  God  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. ' 

"July  2nd.  The  sun  has  set  in  splendor  and  the 
rising  moon — bright  emblem  of  the  Daughter  of 
Zion — proclaims  in  silent  but  most  unresistible 
power  'The  hand  that  made  her  is  Divine.'  How 
delightful  from  this  sink  of  moral  pollution  and  sin 
to  look  away  and  be  cheered  by  the  fair  face  of  na- 
ture which  uncorrupted  and  perfect  moves  on  in 
the  path  ordained  by  God,  and  in  which  we  see  and 
love  the  author  of  'Every  good  and  perfect  gift. 
Three  Indian  women  spent  the  afternoon  with  me; 
they  saunter  about  constantly  between  their  eating 
houses,  sit,  lean  upon  their  elbows,  or  rest  upon 
each  other,  pick  live  vermin  from  hair  or  clothes 
and  kill  them  without  the  least  appearance  of  diffi- 
dence or  any  sense  of  impropriety.  Lord  God  en- 
lighten their  dark  minds  and  show  them  that  there 
is  a  more  excellent  way.  I  shall  leave  the  Point 
to-morrow  if  the  Lord  will — Jesus,  Master,  direct. 

"Mackinaw  6th.  Spent  the  day  at  the  mission. 
While  there,  was  powerfully  reproved  by  the  con- 
duct of  an  Indian  chief,  who  came  in  while  we  were 
at  table.  It  seems  he  has  a  granddaughter  at  the 
mission.  He  searched  every  part  of  the  room  with 
his  keen  eye,  at  length  it  met  the  object  of  his  quest. 


OPENING  Of  WORK  AT  ST.  KjNACE 

He  rose  with  much  apparent  joy,  t « >« >k  the  child  in 

his  arms,  and  kissel  each  cheek.     While  the  b 
glistened'in  his  eyes.     Their  manner  to  each  other 

when  meeting  is  very  affectionate    The  conduct  by 

which  I  felt  reproved  was  relative  to  eating   with 

us,  which  upon    being    invited    to    do    he    refused, 

Baying  he  feared  t<>  cat  with  praying  people  lest  hie 
should  be  sick.     He  stood   before   a  room  full  of 

Christian  worshipers  and  with  quiet  dignity  and 
boldness  declared  T  do  not  worship  your  God, 
neither  will  I  defile  myself  by  partaking  with  you.' 
"Such  firmness  on  our  side  for  Christ  would  lead 
a  man  to  'Come  out  and  be  separate,  to  touch  not, 
taste  not,  handle  not  the  unclean  thing.'  Poor  de- 
luded Indians.  Ye  shall  yet  know  the  truth.  The 
heathen  shall  be  given  to  Jesus. 

"7th.  To-day  Mr.  Clarke,  a  Methodist  mission- 
ary on  his  way  to  Green  Bay  in  company  with 
Peter  Jones,  John  Sunday  and  several  other  con- 
verted Indians,  entered  the  house  of  God  at  Mack- 
inaw. 

"My  heart  is  burning  with  intense  love  for  the 
dark  minded  Indian. 

"8th.  Mr.  Ayer  has  just  returned  from  Utica, 
where  he  has  been  to  superintend  the  printing  of 
an  Indian  spelling  book.  Mr.  A  -  is  a  true  apos- 
tle to  the  Indians.  His  soul  is  wedded  to  them  by 
the  love  of  Christ,  which  constrains  him  to  'Count 
all  things  but  loss  that  he  may  j^ain  some.' 


98  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"13th.  Brother  Ayer  was  married  last  evening 
to  sister  Taylor.  They  will  leave  soon  for  a  jour- 
ney of  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  in  an  open  boat. 

"15th.  Passed  across  the  straits  in  company 
with  brother  Hall,  for  the  purpose  of  spending  the 
Sabbath  at  the  Point,  hoping,  once  more  to  preach 
Christ  to  this  people.  What  a  scene  of  misery  and 
degradation.  Breath  of  the  Lord,  Oh!  breathe  up- 
on this  mass  of  death !  The  school  still  flourishes. 
Sixteen  children  in  Sunday-school. 

"20th.  The  dear  missionaries  left  this  morning 
for  the  Indian  country  under  the  protection  of 
traders  of  the  Fur  company,  they  go  rejoicing  in 
God. 

"Brother  Boutwell  goes  into  the  interior  about  a 
thousand  miles  west  of  us,  among  a  savage  band 
of  Indians.  Brother  Ayer  and  wife  seven  hundred. 
Hester  Crooks  who  was  formerly  my  assistant  in 
Infant  School  work  goes  with  them. 

"27th.  Visited  again  Point  St.  Ignace, found  the 
school  in  a  most  interesting  state,  about  thirty 
children  in  attendance.  Sister  P's  heart  is  ready 
to  break  in  view  of  the  vice  and  sin  which  surrounds 
her,  Jesus  Master,  strengthen  her  for  this  great 
work,  'Thou  art  a  High  Priest  touched  with  a 
feeling  for  our  infirmities.' 

"29th.     Left  Mackinaw  for  Chicago      I  go  out 


OPENING  OF  WORK  AT  ST.  IGNACE 

once  more  as  a    'Stranger   and   a    pilgrim'  but  my 
Master  goes  before  and  he  will  not  forsake  me. 

"30th.  Safely  anchored  at  Chicago.  Inquired 
for  boarding-house.  All  places  filled,  was  asked 
into  a  Christian  home  to  dine.  Brother  Porter 
called,  very  little  prospect  for  opening  a  school. 
Captain  and  Mrs.  Wilcox  have  just  sent  an  invita- 
tion for  me  to  spend  my  time  with  them.  Capt. 
W.  was  brought  to  Christ  in  the  revival  at  Sault 
Ste.  Marie  and  has  since  married  a  pious  lady,  with 
whom  I  became  acquainted  at  Mackinaw.  'Oh  my 
Father,  teach  me  to  walk  before  all  I  meet  as  be- 
cometh  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord. '  " 


CHAPTER  VIII 

School  work  in  Chicago 

The  following  paragraph  from  Andreas'  History 
of  Chicago  and  another  paper  in  possession  of  the 
Historical  Society,  gives  the  main  facts  connected 
with  Miss  Chappel's  school  work  there,  while  her 
own  journals  show  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  was 
done.  "Miss  Chappel  came  to  Chicago  from  Mack- 
inaw with  Mrs.  Seth  Johnson  in  June  1833,  with 
the  intention  of  establishing  a  school,  and  upon 
arriving  here  became  a  member  of  Captain  Wilcox's 
family.  Here  she  was  at  the  time  of  the  Indian 
payment  and  treaty,  when  Mr.  Robert  Stuart  of 
Mackinaw  came  to  assist  in  the  negotiations.  Mr. 
Stuart  was  detained  after  the  business  was  accom- 
plished by  the  prevailing  south  winds  and  inter- 
ested himself  in  starting  a  school  for  the  children 
of  the  Fort  and  village.  He  met  several  officers 
who  have  children  and  other  citizens  and  proposed 
Miss  C —  as  teacher,  testifying  to  her  great  success 
at  Mackinaw.  Much  interest  was  awakened,  a  com- 
mittee was  appointed  and  reported  that  sixty-seven 
dollars  had  been  subscribed  to  sustain  the  school, 

100 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO  101 

and  twenty-five  scholars  were  promised  who  could 
pay  tuition.  The  school  opened  in  September, 
in  a  little  loghouse  just  outside  the  military  reser- 
vation; used  up  to  that  time  by  Mr.  John  Wright 
as  a  store.  While  Miss  C — .  was  waiting  for  Mr. 
Wright  to  vacate  the  log  store,  he  was  erecting  a 
frame  one,  the  fourth  built  in  the  village,  into 
which  to  move  his  goods.  This  removal  being  ac- 
complished Miss  C — .  took  posession  of  the  log 
building  with  her  scholars  and  Miss  Lucy  Beach 
who  was  her  assistant.  The  house  was  divided 
by  calico  curtains  into  two  apartments,  one  for 
schoolroom  the  other  for  lodging-room.  The  wife 
of  Sergeant  Adams  who  lived  near  the  bridge,  pre- 
pared the  meals  for  the  two  teachers  and  brought 
them  to  their  cabin;many  of  the  scholars  furnished 
chairs  for  themselves,  but  those  who  were  unable 
to  do  so  had  primitive  seats  supplied  them.  None 
of  these  had  backs  and  there  were  no  desks,  but 
there  was  a  table  on  which  the  older  pupils  did 
their  writing.  At  one  end  of  the  room  was  a  small 
raised  platform  with  a  table  for  the  teacher.  The 
apparatus  consisted  of  a  numeral  frame,  maps  of 
the  U.  S.  and  the  world,  a  globe,  scripture  texts 
and  hymns,  and  illustrations  of  geometry  and  as- 
tronomy. Miss  Chappell  continued  to  teach  in 
this  log  schoolhouse  until  January  1834  when  she 
moved  into  the  First  Presbyterian  church  building 


102  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

in  which  soon  afterward  her  infant  school  gave 
an  exhibition  which  was  highly  satisfactory  to 
her  and  to  the  patrons.  An  appropriation  was 
made  by  the  commissioners  from  the  public  school 
fund  for  the  partial  maintenance  of  this  school,  by 
which  official  act  Miss  Chappell  was  recognized  as 
the  first  teacher  employed  and  to  her  must  be  ac- 
credited the  honor  of  having  taught  the  first  public 
school  in  Chicago.  Miss  C —  soon  conceived  the 
idea  of  educating  the  girls  who  lived  on  the  prairies. 
Her  proposition  to  the  parents  of  these  girls  was, 
that  if  they  would  send  in  their  daughters  with 
provisions  upon  which  to  subsist,  she  would  give 
them  a  home  in  a  one-and-one-half-story  frame 
house  owned  by  a  sergeant  in  the  fort  which  stood 
on  La  Salle  street  nearly  west  of  the  jail.  In  re- 
sponse to  this  offer,  twelve  girls  were  sent  to  her 
school,  and  made  their  homes  with  her  in  the  Ser- 
geant's house.  After  getting  in  this  older  class  of 
pupils  it  was  decided  to  fit  them  for  teachers  so 
this  became  the  first  normal  institution  in  Chicago. 
Beside  Miss  Beach,  Miss  Mary  Barrows — afterward 
Mrs.  Dudley  and  the  mother  of  one  of  the  pioneer 
missionaries  of  the  W.  B.  M.  I.  in  Japan — was  as- 
sociated with  Miss  C —  and  when  she  resigned  the 
charge  in  1835,  it  passed  into  the  care  of  Miss  Ruth 
Leavenworth. 

To   return    once   more  to  the  journal  beginning 
"January    18  1834." 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO  100 

m 

"Surely  'God  leadeth  the  blind  by  a  way  th.it 
they  know  not'  but  if  'God  lead,  I  need  not,  shall 
not'  fear.  'How  can  I  sink  with  such  a  prop.' 
The  earth  may  be  removed  and  the  heavens  pass 
away  but  the  little  child  with  head  pillowed  on 
the  bosom  of  Jesus  may  rest  secure. — 

"19th.  My  school  prospers.  Mountains  seem  to 
be  giving  way.  'God  shall  work  and  none  shall 
hinder.'  Much  has  already  been  done,  for  this 
wicked  and  gain-saying  people.  I  was  permittted 
to  attend  the  dedication  service  of  a  Presbyterian 
church  on  the  first  Saturday  of  this  mqnth.  A 
pleasant  and  commodious  building — the  third 
church  building  in  this  place  including  the  Catholic. 
When  I  arrived  last  September;  there  was  no  house 
of  worship  here.  A  small  circle  of  Christians  met 
in  a  log  school-house.  The  Presbyterians,  Baptists, 
and  Methodists,  now  meet  at  their  respective 
places. 

"26th.  Last  evenng  a  prayer-meeting  at  my 
room.      God  himself  was  in  our  midst. 

"Feburary,  16th.  'Bless  the  Lord  oh,  my  soul 
and  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name.' 
What  infinite  fulness.  My  weak  contracted  soul 
can  take  in  so  little.  Thanks  to  his  grace  I  shall 
soon  triumph  over  mine  enemies.  This  diseased 
and  quivering  body  shall  be  exchanged  for  one, 
'Like  unto  his  glorious  body.1     Shall  I  indeed  be 


104  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

assimilated  body  and  soul  to  Jesus?  Yes!  I  shall 
rise  with  Him,  reign  with  Him.  A  sinner  the  'chief 
of  sinners. '  Saved  by  grace.  Richest  most  precious 
truth!  My  bodily  infirmities  are  great,  but  they 
are  my  treasures.  They  teach  me  where  is  my 
strength.  They  drive  me  to  Jesus.  In  strong 
confidence  I  rest  there.  I  cast  my  infirmities  on 
Him.  He  takes  my  sicknesses.  I  pant  after  His 
holiness.  I  long  to  be  conformed  to  His  likeness. 
I  see  in  his  word  that  this  is  His  will.  'Even  our 
sanctification. '  It  is  indeed  His  will,  that  with 
faith  unfeigned  we  should  take  Him  for  our  salifi- 
cation and  redemption  'Jesus  is  the  end  of  the  law 
for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth. ' 
Faith  is  the  principle.  It  triumphs  over  the  world, 
and  unites  in  one  all  the  children  with  the  Beloved, 
in  whom  the  Father  is  ever  well  pleased. 

"March  30th.  A  quarterly  examination  of  the 
school  took  place  two  weeks  since.  Parents  and 
patrons  expressed  much  pleasure.  More  interest 
is  manifested  in  the  progress  of  the  school  than 
could  have  been  anticipated.  How  wonderfully 
has  God  wrought  for  us! 

Immediately  upon  the  close  of  school  left  Chi- 
cago, in  company  with  my  assistant,  Miss  Beach, 
for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the  settlements  about 
thirty  miles  south  in  one  which  her  father  resides. 
Mr.    Porter   and    Mr.     Freeman,  who   labor   here, 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO  106 

ride  alternately  across  the  prairie  to  minister,  to 
those  in  these  settlements  who  will  hear  the  word 
of  life.  These  dear  brethren  have  encountered 
much  to  make  these  trips  the  last  year. 

"April  i st.      I  hope  to   open   school   to-morrow 
Oh!    my    Saviour,    what    responsibility!      I    must 
see  thy  salvation  in  the   conversion  of  these    chil- 
dren.     I  cannot  live  if  God  do  not  appear  for  sal- 
vation! 

"April  15th.  'Heaven  and  earth  may  pass  but 
the  word  of  our  God  endureth  forever.'  'My  soul 
fainted  for  thy  salvation,  'saying  when  will  thou 
comfort  me.'  What  wonders  hath  God  wrought. 
My  school-room  is  a  Bethel.  Yesterday  was  a 
day  long  to  be  remembered  eternity  alone  can  re- 
veal its  issues. 

"18th.  Hearing  of  two  individuals,  at  a  distance 
of  twelve  miles,  upon  whom  God  had  laid  His 
afflictive  hand  and  who  had  expressed  a  desire  to 
come  to  Jesus,  I  was  led  to  believe  that  it  was  the 
will  of  the  Lord  that  some  of  his  children  should  go 
and,  'Instruct  them  more  perfectly'  accordingly 
with  a  dear  brother  and  sister  I  went  to  search 
them  out.  Upon  our  arrival  found  that  we  had 
not  been  misled  one  already  hoped  in  Christ. 
The  other  yielded  to  the  power  of  God  and  spoke 
of  pardoning  love. 

"24th.      Two  dear  souls   have  as  I  trust   yielded 


106  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

to  Christ,  in  my  room  this  evening.  It  has  been,  I 
trust  as  'the  gate  of  heaven'  to  man}'  souls.  O! 
Lord!  increase  my  faith!  How  little  of  Christ 
have  I.  How  unlike  my  Saviour!  Let  me  'Be 
conformed  unto  His  image.'  Let  the  old  man  of 
sin  die.      Let  God  become  all. 

"June  6th.  A  teacher  has  just  arrived  designed 
to  take  my  place  in  the  school  in  Chicago.  Jesus, 
Master  give  grace,  wisdom,  all  she  needs  for  the 
work.  Shield  her,  keep  under  'the  shadow  of  thy 
wings.'  Thouknowest well  the  sorrow  of  a  stranger, 
and  thou  knowest  too  how  to  apply  the  healing 
balm  to  the  weak  and  weary. 

"17th.  Excruciating  pain  of  body.  Sweet  afflic- 
tions !  I  will  esteem  anything  precious  which  leads 
to  new  discoveries  of  His  love.  May  I  strive  to 
be  conformed  in  character  to  the  image  that  I  may 
be  esteemed,— Thy  'sister.'  What  condescension! 
'Whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  my  father  the  same 
is  my  mother  and  sister  and  brother. '  'Not  as 
men  pleasers  but  as  doing  the  will  of  God  from 
the  heart. '  The  motives  which  prompt  the  chil- 
dren of  the  world  and  the  children  of  God  are, 
must  be,  entirely  different,  and  as  motives  alone, 
in  the  sight  of  God,  gives  character  to  acts  with 
what  abhorence  'He  must  look  upon  much  which 
the  world  counts  good  and  great.  How  degrading 
to  the  Christian  to  be  influenced  in  his  conduct  by 


SCHOOL  IVORK  IN  CHICAGO  107 

no  higher  motive  than  the  approbation  of  the  ene- 
mies of  His  master.  Indeed  that  man  who  is 
governed  by  no  other  motive  is  far  from  righteous- 
ness this  being  one  of  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  children  of  this  world  'They  love  the  praise  of 
men  more  than  the  praise  of  God. ' 

"July  6th.  Have  been  permited  to-day  to  sit 
with  my  Beloved  at  His  table  I  was  led  to  con- 
trast this  with  the  first  such  season  enjoyed  in 
Chicago  about  nine  months  since.  Then  in  a  little 
log-cabin,  a  few,  very  few,  altogether  unknown 
almost  to  each  other,  but  bound  by  the  cords  of 
Christ's  love.  To-day  within  the  consecrated 
walls  of  a  commodious  church,  a  multitude  as- 
sembled. Not  a  few  active  devoted  Christians 
brought  from  almost  every  quarter.  Several  from 
our  midst  came  forward  and  took  upon  themselves 
the  solemn  vow,  henceforth  to  know  nothing  but 
Jesus. 

"31st.  How  have  I  realized  the  power  of  God 
in  sustaining  me  in  a  ride  of  ten  miles  on  horse- 
back during  the  last  week.  I  went  to  visit  a  school 
recently  opened  by  a  young  lady  who  had  been 
engaged  with  me  in  the  work.  God  has  opened 
in  that  dark  corner  an  effectual  door  for  labor. 
About  twenty  five  children  gathered  from  a  dis- 
tance of  several  miles  around.  Some  fourteen 
years  of  age,  who  have  not  been  taught  that  Jesus 


108  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

Christ  came  to  save  them.  Oh!  gather  them  in 
thine  own  arms  carry  them  in  thy  bosom. 
Saviour  divine. 

"August,  9th.  Received  letters  from  mission- 
aries in  the  frontier  settlments  among  the  Indians 
requesting  that  an  Infant  school  teacher  be  sent 
them.  Several  other  places  call  loudly  for  help, 
Shall  I  go  to  Mackinaw  for  counsel  in  this  matter? 

She  did  make  the  trip  and  writes  from  there. 

"16th.  Met  Miss  Grant,  principal  of  Ipswich 
seminary,  Mass.  Miss  G.  wishes  to  prepare  and 
send  out  teachers.  I  consider  this  meeting  most 
providential.  We  shall  be  enabled  to  open  a  way 
for  many  to  press  into  this  valley  without  delay. 
Miss  G.  is  a  supejor  woman  and  her  plan  of  in- 
struction highly  approved  by  those  who  love  the 
cause  of  Christ.  Lord  inspire  these  young  women 
with  a  desire  to  devote  themselves  to  teaching  the 
ignorant  and  degraded. 

"26th.  Left  Mackinaw  very  abruptly  this  morn- 
ing for  Chicago. 

"October  28th.  Many  weeks  have  passed  since 
I  have  writen  here.  Much,  very  much,  of  import- 
ance has  occurred.  Indeed  to  an  immortal  being 
destined  for  eternity,  what  is  not  important  ?  If, 
to  our  Father  in  heaven  a  sparrows  fall  is  worthy 
of  notice,  what  is  too  trifling  for  our  improvement? 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO 

"November  5th.  My  situation  at  present  is  one 
involving  deep  and  eternal  responsibility,  sur- 
rounded by  a  family  of  twelve,  who  have  been 
committed  to  my  care  by  their  parents,  and  a  school 
of  sixty.  I  look  up  and  cry  'God  of  wisdom  direct. ' 
Let  these  souls  live,  let  them  now  be  born  of  the 
spirit.      Lord  Jesus  my  hope  is  in  Thee. 

"27th.  What  mighty  changes  are  affected  in  a 
few  short  days,  and  that  for  which  we  have  long 
toiled  and  with  the  greatest  care  secured,  removed 
in  a  moment — and  only  the  cheerless  echo  left. 
Shall  we  rejoice  to  have  it  so?  Yes!  The  Lord 
gave  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  'Blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord. '  I  will  greatly  magnify  His  name  in 
that  He  will  not  suffer  His  children  to  retain  other 
Gods.  Take  all  that  hinders  Thine  entrance  into 
our  souls.  Thou  art  our  only  portion,  none  else 
shall  have  dominion  over  us.  Since  Jesus  has 
bought  us  at  such  a  price,  we  will  acknowledge  no 
other  Master.  How  I  long  to  look  into  this  plan 
without  a  veil,  to  know  as  I  am  known,  to  behold 
His  beauty  and  inquire  in  the  upper  sanctuary. 
Lay  aside  every  weight,  Oh!  my  soul,  and  run  for 
the  prize,  which  is  set  before.  Hid  in  Christ.' 
My  surety,  my  all!  Darkness  covers  the  land.  My 
soul  is  sick  when  I  look  upon  Zion.  How  is  her 
beauty  marred.  Is  this  the  Lamb's  wife?  Oh,  Lord 
Almighty.      Wash  and  purify  for  thy  name's  sake. 


110  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

For  thine  honor's  sake  appear.  These  thorns  in  the 
flesh  these  bodily  pains  and  infirmities  are  tokens 
that  the  day  of  my  release  is  at  hand  —of  late,  by 
reason  of  increased  debility  I  have  been  led  to  be- 
lieve that  my  work  in  Chicago  as  a  teacher  is  near- 
ly finished.     Lord  not  as  I  will  but  as  Thou  wilt. 


CHAPTER  IX 

MARRIAGE  AND  MOTHERHOOD 

Here  the  reader  should  be  more  formally  in- 
troduced to  'Young  Mr.  Porter'  with  whose  life 
that  of  Miss  Chappell  is  from  this  time  so  closely 
linked.  Jeremiah  was  the  youngest  child  of  Dr. 
William  and  Mrs.  Charlotte  Porter,  and  was  born 
in  the  quaint  and  beautiful  town  of  old  Hadley — 
the  village  of  the  wide  street  and  great  elm  trees 
— in  the  Connecticut  valley  just  under  the  shadow 
of  Mt  Holyoke  and  Mt.  Tom.  His  father  was 
one  of  long  line  of  physicians,  a  grandson  of  Pres. 
Jonathan  Edwards,  and  his  mother,  a  Williams 
from  Hatfield.  The  Hadley  home  had  been  in 
the  family  for  two  centuries  and  there  the  great 
roomy  house,  known  to  this  generation  as  the  old 
homestead,  was  built  upon  the  site  of  a  much  older 
Porter  mansion.  Dr.  Porter,  was  genial  and 
generous  and  Mrs.  P.  a  typical  Puritan  matron; 
looking  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household,  with 
ever  ready  hospitality,  a  woman  of  intense  con- 
victions,   conscientious,    thoughtful,  and  with    the 

touch  of  melancholy  which  so  naturally  associated 

111 


112  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

itself  with  the  stern  religious  teaching  of  the   day. 
At  twelve  years  of  age,  her   youngest  son  thought 
he  had    given    his  heart  to  the  Saviour,  and,  with 
the  approval  of  his  parents,  desired  to  make   pub- 
lic confession  of  his    faith.      The   good   pastor  and 
deacons   considered   the   case,  and   although   they 
found    nothing    unsatisfactory    in   his   experience, 
feared  that  he  was  too  young  to  realize  the  mean- 
ing of  the   step,  and   advised   him   to   postpone   it 
until  he  should  be  more  mature.      Years  went   on. 
The  lad  knew  that  no  change  had   come  in  his  de- 
termination or  desire,   but   accepted   the  judgment 
of  his  seniors,  that  he  had  not  been  converted,  and 
went   through  his   preparatory  studies  at  Hopkins 
Academy,  his  college  course  under  Dr.  Griffin,  at 
Williams,  and  two   years   of  theological    study  at 
Andover,    desiring   and    pleading  for   the    coveted 
"change  of  heart."     He  was  too  honest  to  profess 
a  transformation  which  he  did  not  feel,  too  humble 
minded   to   assert   that   he  had  been   a  Christian 
from  early  youth.      The  officers  had  gone  contrary 
to  the  usual  course,  in  allowing  a  young  man  not  a 
member  of  any   church,  to   remain   so   long  in  the 
theological    seminary,  and   he  turned    sadly  away 
at  the  close  of  the  second   year.      His   own    desire 
was  to  preach   the   gospel,  but   how  could  he  pro- 
claim to  others  that  of  which   he  had    not   experi- 
enced the  saving  power?     For  two  years   he   took 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO  1 1  :> 

charge  of  a  Monitorial  high-school  in  Troy,  New 
York,  and  while  teaching  there,  with  great  hesi- 
tation and  self  distrust,  once  more  asked  admis- 
sion to  the  visible  church,  and  made  public  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  in  Christ.  His  last  year  of 
Theological  study  was  spent  at  Princeton,  and  im- 
mediately upon  his  graduation  he  was  ordained  and 
commissioned  by  the  American  Home  Missionary 
Society.  He  was  first  sent  to  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
Michigan,  and  on  his  way,  as  has  been  mentioned, 
found  Miss  Chappel  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Stuart  at 
Mackinaw.  From  that  point  his  journey  to  the 
Sault  was  made  in  a  birch  bark  canoe — which  had 
been  sent  down  for  him  by  the  Indian  agent,  Hon. 
H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  the  little  craft  was  manned  by 
French  Canadian  voyagers,  and  the  party  were 
three  days  on  the  way,  camping  at  night  on  the 
shore,  the  last  night  in  a  snowstorm,  for  it  was 
late  in  November  when  Mr.  P.  reached  his  place 
of  labor.  During  the  winter  1831-1832,  the  gar- 
rison and  little  community  felt  the  mighty  power 
of  God's  spirit,  and  many  were  brought  to  Christ. 
After  eighteen  months  the  troops  from  Fort  Brady, 
(Sault  Ste.  Marie,)  were  ordered  to  Fort  Dearborn 
(Chicago).  As  a  large  proportion  of  the  little 
church  were  either  officers  or  soldiers  they  urged 
their  pastor  to  accompany  them.  The  following 
story  of  their  arrival  at  the  Fort  on  Lake  Michigan, 


114  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

and    welcome  there,  is  taken   from    Andreas'    his- 
tory of  Chicago. 

"As  there  was  a  Baptist  mission  at  the  Sault  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  needs  of  those  left  at  that  place 
Mr.  Porter  accepted  the  invitation  to  accompany 
them  to  Chicago — the  Home  missionary  society 
had  requested  him  to  explore  the  shores  of  Lake 
Michigan,  and  see  if  there  were  any  settlements 
where  the  gospel  might  be  preached.  Mr.  Porter 
therefore,  in  company  with  the  troops  under  com- 
mand of  Major  John  Fowle,  arrived  off  Fort  Dear- 
born May  12th,  1833,  but  on  account  of  the 
roughness  of  the  lake,  did  not  land  until  the  next 
day.  Major  Fowle  had  come  to  relieve  Capt. 
Seth  Johnson,  and  the  little  body  of  Christians  in 
the  Fort  were  much  cast  down,  over  the  departure 
of  the  captain,  who  was  a  devout  Christian,  and  a 
warm-hearted  man.  They  knew  what  they  were 
to  lose,  but  did  not  know  what  they  were  to  gain; 
hence  it  was  natural  that  they  should  feel  impatience 
and  anxiety  to  know  the  religious  character  of 
those  on  board  the  schooner — On  Monday,  the 
waters  being  sufficiently  smooth,  the  troops  and 
others  on  the  vessel  landed,  the  surprise  of  those 
in  the  village  of  Chicago,  was  very  great  and  agree- 
able to  find  that  the  schooner  brought  not  only  a 
minister,  but  the  nucleus  of  a  church  organization, 
and  a  very  warm    welcome    was   extended   to   the 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHICAGO  115 

strangers.  John  Wright,  an  old  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Porters,  in  Williamstown,  and  one  of  the  pray- 
ing men  of  the  village, taking  his  hand  said:  'Well 
I  do  rejoice!  Yesterday  was  the  darkest  day  I 
ever  saw — Capt.  Johnson  who  had  aided  in  our 
meetings  was  to  leave  us  and  I  was  almost  alone  — 
I  have  been  talking  about  and  writing  for  a  minis- 
ter for  months  in  vain,  and  yesterday  as  we  prayed 
with  the  Christian  about  to  leave  us,  I  was  ready 
to  despair,  as  I  feared  the  troops  coming  in  would 
all  be  utterly  careless  about  religion.  The  fact 
that  you  and  a  little  church  were  at  the  hour  of 
our  meeting,  riding  at  anchor  within  gunshot  of 
the  Fort  is  like  the  bursting  out  of  the  sun  from 
behind  the  darkest  clouds.'  Temporary  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  preaching  in  the  fort;  the 
carpenters-shop  being  emptied,  cleaned  and  seated 
and  the  next  Sunday  Mr.  P.  preached  his  first 
sermon  in  Chicago.  On  June  rst.  arrangements 
were  made  for  public  worship  outside  the  Fort  as 
many  citizens  objected  to  going  there.  In  the 
course  of  the  year  the  first  church  edifice  was  built 
and  it  was  dedicated  in  January  1834. 

This  as  has  been  said  became  Miss  Chappell's 
school-room.  Her  work  there,  with  the  care  of  a 
family,  and  the  many  inconveniences  of  the  rough- 
ly finished  and  crowded  house,  constantly  overtaxed 
her  strength,  yet  we  find    her  abounding  in    other 


116  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

labors.  The  ladies'  prayer-meeting  and  missionary 
society  were  organized  by  her,  and  whenever  there 
was  sickness  or  bereavement  in  the  little  commu- 
nity she  hastened  as  adviser  and  consoler.  During 
the  autumn  and  winter  of  1834— 1835,  there  was 
deep  religious  interest  in  the  church  and  many  out- 
siders were  brought  in.  The  earliest  converts 
were  from  the  school  and  its  rooms  were  a  sort  of 
center  for  the  work  which  followed.  The  last  of 
January  Miss  C's  body  refused  longer  to  respond 
to  the  call  of  her  unwearied  spirit,  and  she  was 
prostrated  upon  a  bed  of  pain,  from  which  neither 
physicians  nor  friends  expected  her  to  rise  again. 
Seven  weeks  of  suffering  reduced  her  to  extreme 
weakness,  but  while  others  looked  for  her  release 
she  expected  to  recover,  and,  ready  to  hear  the  call 
either  to  go,  or  to  arise  and  labor,  she  was  kept  in 
a  calm  and  joy  which  was  a  wonder  to  all  who 
saw  her.  In  March  there  was  decided  improve- 
ment, and  while  still  too  feeble  to  leave  her  room? 
while  any  plan  for  labor,  even  for  life  seemed  al- 
most presumption,  she  promised,  should  she  be 
restored,  to  become  the  wife  of  the  young  pastor, 
whose  true  helper  in  all  parish  work  she  had  already 
been.  Naturally,  the  family  friends  of  Mr.  Por- 
ter were  distressed  at  the  thought  of  such  an  as- 
sociation for  the  home  missionary  devoted  to  pio- 
neer service.     Miss  C's    most  loyal  admirers  also, 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHIC/1<,(  I  1 1  r 

like  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stuart  felt  constrained  to  remon- 
strate— Mr.  S.  said,  impetuously:  "I  never  knew 
Miss  Chappell  do  anything  wrong  before  but  this 
certainly  is  wrong;"  and  Mrs.  S.  wrote  years  after- 
ward "It  seemed  the  maddest  thing  in  the  world." 
Sensitive  to  the  opinion  and  judgment  of  her 
friends  this  must  have  been  a  keen,  although  not 
unanticipated,  trial  to  the  invalid,  but  she  knew 
herself  better  than  they  knew  her.  A  sufferer  al- 
ways, she  was  conscious  of  such  physical  endur- 
ance as  is  rare,  and  had  not,  after  the  decision  was 
made,  any  anxious  care  as  to  its  wisdom.  Mr. 
Porter  had  known  her  only  as  a  sufferer,  under- 
stood her  limitations,  and  having  asked  counsel  of 
God,  they  truly  believed  that  not  only  their  greatest 
happiness  but  their  largest  usefulness  lay  in  the 
union  of  their  lives. 

Mr.  Porter,  the  youngest  child  of  a  large  family, 
was  peculiarily  dear  to  his  mother,  as  the  one  whom 
she  had  given  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  it 
was  no  less  a  trial  to  him  than  to  her,  that  in  his 
choice  of  a  wife  he  should  so  grieve  her.  He  had 
however,  absolute  confidence  that  he  had  done 
wisely  and  thought  it  only  necessary  for  his  friends 
to  know  his  strong-hearted,  if  physically  frail,  Eliza 
to  rejoice  with  and  congratulate  him.  A  packet  of 
old  yellow  letters  written  during  the  few  weeks  of 
their  separation  before  their  marriage  tell  the  story 


113  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

from  his  own  standpoint,  letters  almost  too 
sacred  even  for  the  eyes  of  their  children,  which 
breathe  the  devotion  which  they  saw  lived  before 
them  year  after  year — and  which  formed  their  ideal 
of  a  love  without  selfishness,  strong  enough  to  over- 
come all  things,  and  having  its  reward  in  a  unity  of 
aim  and  purpose  so  complete  as  to  have  made 
their  lives  an  idyl.  Miss  Chappell  wrote  nothing 
which  is  preserved  of  her  engagement,  and  probably 
did  not  inform  her  friends  of  her  plans,  until  she 
went  to  Rochester  in  April  1835.  From  her  youth 
she  had  been  doing  the  most  unanticipated  and 
apparently  impracticable  things.  She  had  carried 
out,  and  been  successful  in,  enterprizes  which  ap- 
peared Utopian,  and  her  family  friends  had  almost 
come  to  believe  that  whatever  she  undertook  would 
prosper.  She  had  gone  alone  to  the  wilds  of  the 
west,  they  could  hardly  do  otherwise  than  rejoice 
that  for  the  future — whether  longer  or  shorter — she 
was  to  have  the  loving  care  of  one  whom  they  had 
learned  to  respect  and  admire  from  her  description 
of  the  pastor  so  devoted  to  the  up-building  of 
Christ's  cause  on  the  frontier.  Mr.  Porter  went  east 
in  May  as  the  delegate  of  the  Ottawa  Presbytery  to 
the  General,  Assembly  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn.  and 
returned  to  Rochester  in  the  following  month. 
The  marriage  ceremony  was  performed  by  the 
Rev.  Tryon  Edwards,  in  the   Brick   church  of  that 


SCH(  H  V    li  ORK  IN  CHICAGO  1 1 0 

city,  June  15th,  1835.  The  wedding  feast  was  at 
the  home  of  a  brother  of  the  bride,  Mr.  Robert 
Chappell.and  friends  from  Geneseo  and  Mt.  Morris, 
were  present  to  wish  them  joy.  They  went  imme- 
diately to  New  England,  where  the  young  wife 
made  the  conquest  of  the  hearts  of  Mr.  P's.  friends 
which  he  had  anticipated.  There  must  have  been, 
however,  not  a  few  trying  things  about  the  visit. 
The  mother  and  sisters  were  energetic  competent 
women  beside  whom  the  little  bride  seemed  very 
frail  and  delicate.  Madame  Porter  was  erect, 
queenly,  and  most  direct  and  plain  of  speech. 
Charmed  with  the  brightness  and  spirituality  of 
her  new  daughter,  she  was  filled  with  foreboding  as 
she  saw  the  too  manifest  tokens  of  disease.  Sitting 
beside  her  one  day  she  took  the  transparent  little 
hand  in  hers  and  exclaimed  almost  involuntarily, 
"Oh!  what  can  such  a  poor  little  hand  do?"  The 
story  was  told  when  Mrs.  P.  looked  on  hands  no 
longer  shapely  and  transparent,  but  toil-worn  and 
wrinkled,  and  said,  with  gentle  humor"\Vhat  haven't 
these  poor'little  hands'done  in  the  fifty  years  since 
then3''  The  New  England  household  may  not 
have  been  at  once  convinced  of  the  wisdom  of 
Jeremiah's  choice,  but  they  never  wondered  at  it 
after  they  knew  his  wife  and  grew  to  regard  her, 
as  the  years  went  on,  with  an  admiring  affection 
which  quite  satisfied  her  husband. 


120  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

On 'the  30th,  of  July  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  reached 
Chicago  on  their  return.  It  had  already  been  de- 
cided that  the  church  should  seek  another  pastor 
and  Mr.  P.  had  tried  to  secure  one  while  at  the 
east,  but  he  was  to  remain  with  them  until  some 
arrangement  for  the  supply  of  the  pulpit  could  be 
made. 

In  August  the  Juvenile  missionary  society,  or- 
ganized by  Miss  Chappell,  had  a  sale  of  fancy 
articles  made  during  the  two  years,  and  realized 
$140.00  which  was  sent  to  Gutzlaff's  mission  in 
China,  "for  the  distribution  of  Bibles  in  that  great 
Empire."  Suggestive  certainly,  as  the  young  pas- 
tor and  his  wife  were  later  to  make  their  personal 
offering,  that  of  their  children,  to  the  same  dark 
land. 

In  September  Mrs.  Porter,  went  with  her  hus- 
band to  visit  his  cousins  at  Hadley,  Ills., a  lit- 
tle settlement  of  Hampshire  Co.  colonists  near  the 
present  site  of  Lockport.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Moses 
Porter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  C.  Williams,  and  the 
Rev.  Lucian  Farnam  were  all  living  there.  Dr. 
P., Mr.  W. and  Mrs.  F., were  cousins  of  Mr.  P. 

Mrs.  Porter,  remained  with  the  friends  for  two 
weeks,  and  trie  foundations  were  laid  for  most  de- 
lightful and  life-long  friendship. 

About  this  time  came  calls  to  the  churches  in 
Green    Bay,    Wisconsin,    and  Peoria,    Ills.      After 


SCHOOL  WORK  IN  CHIC;  l.'l 

careful   consideration    it    was  thought  best  to  go  to 
the  latter  place,  and  there  November  found   them. 

They  took  with  them  a  little  motherless  girl, 
who  had  been  committed  to  Miss  C's  care  by  her 
dying  parent,  and  whom,  on  her  return  to  Chicago, 
she  found  with  friends  awaiting  her  in  the  hope 
that  she  would  give  her  a  home.  The  three  went 
into  the  family  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Cross,  who  had 
at  the  time  three  children.  They  had  been  there 
but  a  few  weeks  when  the  eldest  daughter — a  lovely 
child  of  eight  years — died,  and  the  bereaved  house- 
hold and  the  pastor's  wife  were  brought  into  very 
tender  relations  by  the  sympathy  and  aid  given  at 
the  time. 

In  March,  1836,  the  first  child  William  Robert, 
came  to  rejoice  the  hearts  of  the  parents.  Mrs. 
Porter  had  looked  forward  to  this  event  with  quiet 
confidence,  and  while  her  friends  had  the  greatest 
anxiety  for  her,  as  she  had  been  very  ill  during  the 
winter,  she  was  kept  in  entire  restfulness  of 
spirit.  Her  really  fine  physicial  endowment  re- 
vealed itself  now  as  in  every  similar  experience. 
For  a  few  months  the  bright  and  healthful  child 
was  the  delight  of  the  circle,  but  in  less  than  a 
year,  the  following  February,  he  was  seized  with 
convulsions  and  taken  away  after  most  distressing 
suffering.  Mrs.  P.  had  received  the  child  as  pecu- 
liarly "from  the  Lord"  to  Him  she  gave  him,  with 


: .  .      :  :    :  -  ~     :::•:    ::     .: 

of  the  joy  which  lay 

•  7  -  -.      :i   ■   :.i:   :-r  r.i  :  ::  :•:  :   rrr  i  ::_.; 
lost  ok  nn  nEmnr"     Yet  the 


i 

-      - 

Mr.  F.  was  away  lor  sone  weds  to  af- 

::    :_t  ?•:-=:    ~tr      -    i  :•:     -.  -  :    l:. 

l:    .;.  ;.t:  A."    -       7    t:t   :.t 


SCHOOL  IVORK  IN  CHICAGO  123 

which  came  after  it  was  found  that  the  u frail  little 
woman"  was  the  one  whose  strength  and  courage 
never  failed,  and  that  she  was  able  to  bear  a  strain 
under  which  the  strong  fainted. 

Before  Mr.  P's  recovery  the  third  and  last  child 
of  Dr.  Cross  was  taken  from  them  by  disease,  and 
the  first  time  the  pastor  and  wife  went  together 
from  his  sick  room,  it  was  to  that  house  of  mourn- 
ing. Shortly  after  came  tidings  of  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Flavel  Bascom,  who  had  come  to  Central, 
Ills.,  as  a  bride  about  a  year  before.  The  new 
country,  with  its  great  stretches  of  undrained  prairie, 
proved  most  unhealthful  for  New  England  peo- 
ple, and  within  a  few  years  Mr.  P.  noted  in  his  jour- 
nal the  death  of  seven  minister's  wives  and  of  many 
children.  Restored  to  health  again,  with  his  wife 
carried  safely  through  the  long  anxious  watching 
they  came  to  the  end  of  this  year  with  peculiar  grat- 
itude. In  December  they  removed  to  Farmington 
Ills.,  and  then,  for  the  first  time  in  their  married 
life  took  possession  of  an  entire  house;  up  to  this 
time  they  had  either  boarded  or  lived  in  a  few 
rooms  under  the  same  roof  with  others,  and  estab- 
lished themselves  in  their  own  home — although 
still  a  rented  one.  There  in  February  they  wel- 
comed the  second  son  James  Wolcott,  and  in  No- 
vember of  the  following  year  the  third,  John  I  :- 
wards.     There  are  no  more  journals,  very  few  let- 


124  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

ters  from  Mrs.  Porter's  pen  during  these  and  many 
subsequent  years.  Dear  home  cares  and  untiring 
parish  work  filled  all  the  hours.  Mr:  P's  journals 
still,  as  through  all  the  years  since  he  left  them, 
went  regularly  to  the  New  England  friends,  and 
from  these  the  sequence  of  events  is  easily  gathered. 
They  are  filled,  however,  more  with  details  of 
ministerial  than  household  life,  and  convey  above 
everything  else  the  impression  that  neither  of  the 
two  ever  forgot  that  the  end  of  life  was  service,  and 
to  "sow  besides  all  waters"  if  by  any  means  souls 
might  be  won  to  Christ. 

Early  in  1840,  the  church  at  Green  Bay,  which 
had  twice  before  desired  Mr.  Porter,  as  their  pas- 
tor, again  urged  him  to  come  to  them  and  in  April 
of  that  year  they  set  out  for  the  new  field.  James 
was  at  this  time  little  more  than  two  years  old  and 
baby  John  about  six  months.  The  trip  to  Chicago 
was  made  by  private  conveyance.  A  friend  from 
Farmington,  Mr.  Wilcox  whose  invalid  wife  was 
to  accompany  them  to  the  north,  drove  the  car- 
riage in  which  the  ladies  and  children  with  Mr.  P. 
were.  The  roads  were  bad,  the  days  stormy  and 
often  the  wheels  of  both  carriage  and  wagon  were 
sunk  deep  in  the  mud;  the  desired  stopping 
places  could  not  be  reached  at  night,  and  the  weary 
travelers,  and  half-sick  children  were  glad  to  find 
lodging     in   the   log-cabins   or  small    rude    frame 


SCHOOL  IVORK  IN  CHICAGO  1  M 

houses  of  scattered  settlers.  Coarse  fare  and  poor 
accomodations  often,  but  every  where,  kindly  if 
rough  hospitably  and  the  young  mother  was  never 
too  weary  for  some  thoughtful  aid,  some  word 
of  sympathy  and  cheer,  which  made  the  visit 
memorable  as  that  of  one  who  was  walking  in  a 
light  not  of  the  earth  and  so  not  shadowed  by  its 
vicissitudes.  She  had  need  now  of  clear  vision  of 
the  things  unseen  for  weary  watchings,  long  weeks 
of  painful  anxiety  were  before  her  on  that  pilgrim 
way.  After  many  delays  and  exposures  they 
reached  the  homes  of  the  circle  of  cousins  at  Had- 
ley,  but  not  before  little  John  had  become  very  ill. 
Since  their  previous  visit  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Williams 
had  been  stricken  by  the  death  of  their  children, 
and  only  little  Mary,  now  Mrs.  E.  W.  Blatchford 
of  Chicago,  was  left  of  the  dear  group  to  wel- 
come them.  Mrs.W.  a  great  hearted,  noble  mind- 
ed woman,  had  too  recently  seen  own  her^children 
pass  away  to  be  hopeful  for  any  feeble  child,  and 
from  the  first,  thought  the  baby  could  not  recover. 
For  two  weeks  the  parents  and  friends  watched 
the  little  sufferer,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  it 
seemed  best  for  them  to  pursue  their  journey.  In 
Chicago,  Mrs.  John  Wright  made  them  welcome  to 
her  home  and  there  for  another  week  they  awaited 
the  coming  of  a  steamer  for  Mackinaw.  Physicians 
assured   them   that   the   lake   trip  was  likely  to  be 


126  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

beneficial,  rather  than  otherwise,  to  the  malarial 
poisoned,  and  fever  parched  babe,  and  they  em 
barked  hoping  to  go  directly  to  Green  Bay,  but 
again,  as  in  almost  every  move  on  this  journey, 
they  were  disappointed.  They  waited  a  week  at 
Mackinaw  for  a  schooner  for  the  Bay.  The  time 
must  have  passed  wearily,  as  their  friends,  both 
in  community  and  mission  were  gone,  and  they 
were  strangers  in  a  comfortless  hotel. 

In  July  they  at  length  reached  their  destination, 
having  been  seven  weeks  and  four  days  on  the  way 
from  Farmington,  and  all  that  time  watching  the 
struggle  with  disease  of  the  suffering  child.  They 
were  welcomed  by  Mr.  Mitchell,  early  mentioned 
in  Mackinaw  journal  by  Miss  Chappell,  who  was 
now  a  resident  of  Green  Bay,  and  taken  directly 
to  his  home.  There  for  another  week  the  gentle 

mother  devoted  herself  to  her  baby  boy,  and  then 
with  relief  as  well  as  sorrow,  saw  him  released 
from  pain,  and  began  life  in  her  new  home  with 
only  little  James  as  her  child  comforter.  Perhaps 
in  the  early  days  of  her  loneliness,  was  born  in  the 
boys  heart  that  tenderness  for  his  mother  which 
through  childhood,  youth  and  manhood  made  him 
her  peculiarly  devoted  knight.  The  bracing  climate 
of  northern  Wisconsin,  was  a  great  contrast  to  that 
of  the  malarial  prairies  of  Illinois  and  with  reviving 
strength,  the  pastor  and  his  wife  entered  upon  the 
new  work  with  chastened  hope  and  loving  zeal. 


CHAPTER  X 

GREEN  BAY  LIFE.      THE  HOME  AND  THE  PARISH 

This  was  they?  home  for  eighteen  ysars,  the 
home  in  which  the  family  life  developed,  which  all 
the  household  now  surviving  remember,  the  only 
one  in  which  they  were  for  a  succession  of  years  to 
gether.  There  the  mother  learned  many  of  the 
deeper  things  which  belong  to  her  character  as  they 
it,  and  about  it  the  fondest  and  dearest  of  the 
home  memories  cluster.  We  need  not  trace  the 
events  year  by  year,  but  may  glance  at  the  vicissi- 
tudes, the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the  increas- 
ing family  and  the  parish  and  see  how  they  met  by 
this  gentle  woman  who  "loved  those  her  heavenly 
Father  permitted  her  to  call  her  own,  with  a  con- 
stancy and  tenderness  which  no  language  can  rep- 
resent," and  yet  held  even  these  as  a  trust,  given 
not  to  release  her  from,  but  to  give  new  solemnity, 
to  that  peculiar  consecration  of  her  youh.  Her 
old  friend  Mr.  Stuart  said  aitei  visiting  her  in  Green 
Bay,  "Well!  I  was  mistaken.  Here  is  that  little 
woman,  whom  I  thought  just  slipping  into  the  grave, 
more  devoted  than  ever — a    perfect  wife,  a  perfect 

127 


128  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

mother  and  a  perfect  housekeeper."  Was  she  that? 
No  one  would  have    answered   emphatically  in  the 
negative  with  such  emphasis  as  herself.    Her  stand- 
ard was  the  law  of  God.    She  did  not  reach  her  own 
ideals,  and  these  she  know  to  be  far  below  His  per- 
fect will.   Those  who  know  her  most  intimately  give 
uniform  testimony  to  her  rare  faithfulness,  in  that 
which  is  least       Had  she    attained  without  appar- 
ent struggle  that  which  she  set  before   her   house- 
hold   as    the   aim,   there    would    have    been     less 
tenderness  and  not  more  of  reverence  in  the  affec- 
tion of  her  children  than  came  with  their  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  imperious  will,  so  habitually    re- 
stained;    her    keen   sarcasm     and     look    of  scorn 
were  far  more  dreaded  by   them,  than   any  other 
punishment.      She   saw  through  a  subterfuge,  at  a 
glance,  and  could  by  an   attitude  or  gesture  make 
a  weakness  seem  so  petty,  for    she   was  a  natural 
mimic.    They  loved  her  the  more,  that  with    such 
weapons  in  her  armory,  she   forbore  to  use  them, 
and  they  admired  as  well  as  loved  her,  the  more  that 
they  knew  she  forbore,  and  was  not  incapable.    Mr. 
Porter  first  found  a  home  in  the  large   mansion  of 
Mr.  Mitchell,  into  which   they  had   been  welcomed 
as  guests,  and   then   established   his    household  in 
another,  owned  by  the  same  thoughtful  and  gener- 
ous friend.      In    1847  ne   purchased   the   low  ram- 
bling story  and  a  half  cottage,  diagonally  opposite 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  129 

the  church,  and  that  was,  and  is  to  the  family  the 
Green  Bay  home.  Its  ceilings  were  low,  its  rooms 
of  very  moderate  size,  it  had  quaint  corners,  and 
stairways  and  closets  in  unexpected  places.  A 
wood-house,  carriage-house  and  ice-house  in  a 
long  L.  had  over  them  the  most  charming  of  attics 
for  adventurous  climbing  upon  beams,  and  hidings 
in  the  dark  corners  of  the  sawdust-packed  walls 
about  the  ice  chamber.  To  the  south  and  east  of 
the  house  lay  the  vegetable  and  flower  gardens,  while 
to  the  northwest,  shut  in  on  two  sides  by  the  house 
and  the  above  mentioned  L.  and  from  the  street  by 
a  high  board  fence,  was  the  grassy  yard,  devoted 
largely  to  the  children.  Long  wood  piles  had  their 
place,  and  clotheslines  were  stretched  over  the 
lawn,  but  these  only  added  to  its  interest  and  pos- 
sibilities for  entertainment.  In  it  were  the  teter 
and  swing,  and  against  the  woodhouse  a  long  car- 
penter's bench.  But  one  window  overlooked  it,  and 
that  was  from  mother's  room.  In  all  the  neighbor- 
hood it  was  understood  that  there  was  no  place 
for  play  like  that  yard  and  the  delightful  L.  and  it 
was  the  gathering  place  of  the  children.  Remem- 
bering the  mother's  busy  life  one  wonders  now  how 
she  could  have  endured  that  noisy  group  just  un- 
der the  window.  It  seemed  to  the  children  that 
she  always  was  there,  the  mending  basket,  replen- 
ished as  soon  as  emptied,  by  her  side.      Reproofs 


130  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

were  infrequent,  bright  kindly  suggestions  came 
often  to  the  screaming,  laughing  company.  Gal- 
lantry to  girls  was  the  fashion  on  that  playground: 
was  it  because  the  soft-voiced  hostess  spoke  so 
courteously  to  boys  that  she  at  once  made  them 
feel  themselves  gentlemen?  There  were  times 
when  the  voice  was  not  soft;  when  the  rudest 
quailed  before  a  flashing  eye,  and  note  of  scorn  in 
the  tone  which  was  not  easily  forgotten  and  which 
no  one  wished  twice  to  encounter;  that  was  when 
something  cruel  was  done,  an  insect  tortured,  or  a 
shrinking  little  chlid  teased.  No  one  who  had 
seen  it  could  doubt  the  capacity  for  righteous  indig- 
nation in  the  usually  placid  woman.  Many  a  boy 
shrank  away  from  another  look,  accompanied  by 
few  words  with  which  she  dismissed  the  guest  who 
violated  the  hospitality  of  the  yard  by  vulgar  or 
profane  speech.  To  many  things  she  was  appar- 
ently deaf;  while  play  was  good-humored  and 
language  clean,  the  neighborhood  were  welcome 
to  her  lawn,  and  the  companionship  of  her  cherished 
children.  Not  a  difficult  thing  perhaps  in  the  ear- 
lier years, but  as  time  went  on  a  large  foreign  pop- 
ulation came  into  the  town  and  a  number  of  fami- 
lies of  the  ignorant  class  took  possession  of  a  tene- 
ment house  near  the  minister's.  Should  these  chil- 
dren, dirty,  unkempt,  knowing  little  English  and  of 
that,  alas!   a  good  share  better  unknown,  be  also 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  131 

the  companions  of  her  sons  and  daughters?  She 
considered  the  question  as  she  did  every  one — be- 
fore the  Lord.  She  belonged  to  Him,  so  did  those 
whom  He  had  entrusted  to  her.  Were  they  not 
to  be  used  for  the  service  of  the  lost  also?  Was 
any  life  too  young,  too  weak,  to  have  part  in  the 
"seeking  and  saving?"  If  any  one  in  the  parish 
were  excluded  from  possible  help  she  might  give, 
would  not  the  soul  be  "Required  at  the  watchman's 
hands?"  We  knew  nothing  of  the  struggle,  we 
only  knew  that  our  clannish  unwillingness  to  share 
our  pleasures  with  "Those  children"  was  made  to 
appear  very  unlovely  in  our  eyes,  and  we  vied  with 
one  another  in  efforts  to  win  our  bashful  neighbors. 
The  large  boys  soon  went  to  work,  and  we  saw  no 
more  of  them,  but  the  little  girls  in  the  quaint  caps 
and  short  waisted  dresses  of  the  old  country  peas- 
antry became  our  devoted  friends.  We  sewed 
patchwork  together  under  that  low  window  and  the 
tireless  mender  within  found  time  and  thought  to 
teach  the  motherly  maidens  to  darn  and  patch  for 
the  babies  who  rolled  on  the  grass  beside  them. 
When  sickness  and  death  came  to  the  home  she 
took  us  with  her  when  she  went  to  put  one  of  our 
baby  dresses  on  the  little  form  before  it  was  laid 
in  the  coffin,  and  was  more  than  rewarded  when 
the  poor  mother  exclaimed  "Oh!  the  Holy  Mother 
herself  is  not  more  kind.     I  will  teach  the  children 


132  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

to  be  good  if  you  will  show  me  how!"  The  sense 
of  responsibility  of  stewardship  was  ever  upon 
her.  She  used  to  say  so  often  and  earnestly. 
"Don't  miss  the  little  opportunity  for  doing  a  kind- 
ness. It  may  not  come  again  to-morrow;  it  is 
only  by  being  very  careful  to  use  each  one  that 
we  can  be  ready  when  a  great  door  opens."  For 
herself  she  seemed  always  on  the  watch  for  that 
"Great  door."  All  daily  service  and  friendly 
ministry  was  to  win  a  way  by  which  to  make  her 
Lord  lovely  in  the  eyes  of  those  about  her,  and  find 
the  heart  door  into   which   He   might  enter. 

No  where  was  her  wise  forethought  more  mani- 
fest than  in  the  domestic  arrangements,  the  order 
ing  of  her  household.  She  could  not  gratify  her  love 
for  beautiful  things,  narrow  means  and  limited  time 
forbade  that,  but  her  home  had  always  the  adorn- 
ment of  exquisite  neatness  and  its  simple  belong- 
ings were  arranged  with  a  care  and  taste  which  made 
them  appear  at  their  best.  She  used  to  say  with  a 
smile, "I  was  always  too  busy  to  wait  upon  my  child- 
ren. I  had  to  do  what  was  far  harder;  teach  them  to 
on  themselves.  "  So  there  was  watchful  care  to 
make  it  practicable,  rows  of  nails  in  convenient 
places,  within  the  reach  of  very  short  arms,  and 
the  gentle  reminder  never  neglected  or  forgotten. 
If  they  forgot  she  seldom  did  the  thing  for  them, 
but  let  them  find  the  discomfort  and  annoyance  of 


GREEN  BAY  LI  IE  |tt 

neglected  duty.  The  penalty  was  as  far  as  possi- 
ble the  deprivation  of  the  very  privilege  abused. 
A  cap  or  bonnet  thrown  down  meant  the  quiet  but 
absolutely  inexorable  refusal  to  allow  the  offender 
to  go  out  the  next  time  he  or  she  was  ready  for 
play,  a  disorderly  room  a  call  from  the  merriest 
game  to  set  it  to  rights,  and  the  reason  given 
more  often  than  any  other  was  "We  cannot  have 
a  pleasant  home  unless  you  learn  to  remember." 
Very  soon  to  her  own  thought,  and  early  to  theirs 
came  the  oft  repeated:  "My  children  must  acquire 
such  habits  as  will  make  them  the  least  care  to 
others,  for  mother  will  not  be  with  them,  to  do 
things  for  them."  Northern  Wisconsin  seemed 
almost  as  far  from  school  privileges  in  those  days 
as  the  remotest  frontier  town,  in  the  new  west 
does  now.  The  elder  boys  were  sent  to  Mr.  Por- 
ter's old  New  England  home  when  mere  children; 
each  in  turn  had  years  in  the  family  of  kind  uncles 
and  aunts  in  Hadley,  and  all  but  the  youngest,  at 
one  time  or  another   were  in    the   academy   there. 

Nowhere  were  Mrs.  Porter's  conscientiou 
and  executive  ability  more  clearly  displayed  than 
in  her  dealings  with  those  who  came  into  her  serv- 
ice. She  was  never  able  to  bear  the  entire  burden 
of  household  labor  and  never  tried  t<>  do  BO,  but 
she  could  often  secure  only  the  most  entrained 
and  incompetent   help,  and  much  of  her  time  was 


134  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

necessarily  given  to  the  details  of  the  kitchen.  An 
excellent  cook,  she  made  it  her  aim  to  prepare 
very  simple  food  so  daintily  and  nicely  that  it 
should  be  always  inviting.  To  set  a  thoroughly 
wholesome,  attractive  and  yet  inexpensive  table 
is  no  easy  task  with  all  modern  conveniences  and 
labor  saving  devices,  to  do  it  forty  years  ago  was 
yet  more  difficult,  and  to  do  without  expending 
upon  it  hours  which  were  more  valuable  for  other 
service  was  her  aim.  How  often  have  I  seen  the 
long  snowy,  sand-scoured  table  in  the  little  kitchen, 
covered  when  we  sat  down  to  breakfast,  with  her 
morning  baking,  already  taken  from  the  oven,  the 
fruit  of  her  busy  hands,  while  the  house  was  still, 
and  her  guests,  if  not  her  children,  asleep.  Mr. 
Porter  was  usually  in  the  garden  for  two  hours  be- 
fore the  seven  o'clock  breakfast  in  summer,  and 
she  in  the  buttery  caring  for  the  cream  and  butter 
or  doing  the  baking  for  the  large  household.  The 
girl  was  often  just  from  northern  Europe;  Nor- 
wegian, German,  or  Belgian,  ignorant  of  every- 
thing Amercian  even  to  the  language  and  needing 
constant  supervision  in  the  simplest  details.  Some 
of  those  helpers  went  from  Mrs.  Porter's  kitchen 
to  pleasant  homes  of  their  own,  and  wherever 
they  went,  each  carried  memories  of  most  thought- 
ful kindness,  painstaking  teaching  in  the  lines  of 
domestic  work,  and  very  few  left  the  home  who  had 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  185 

not  learned  to  read  or  write  while  in  her  service. 
How  did  she  find  the  time?  Took  it  where  there 
was  no  other  teacher,  but  after  her  children  had 
mastered  the  First  Reader  she  had  no  lack  of  happy 
co-adjutors.  One  at  least  sat  often  on  that  sand- 
scoured  table  before  she  was  tall  enough  to  reach 
up  from  a  chair,  to  follow  the  big  finger  of  Ger- 
man Mary,  as  it  went  from  side  to  side  of  the  Tract 
Primer,  in  laborious  ploughing  of  the  lines  of  that 
elementary  text-book.  How  often  the  mother 
said  "God  sent  Mary  to  help  us  in  the  kitchen  so 
that  we  could  teach  her  about  Him!"  and  there 
was  a  sort  of  shock  when  we  learned  that  in  some 
household  this  department — the  school  in  the 
kitchen — formed  no  part  of  the  domestic  economy. 
None  could  have  accomplished  what  Mrs.  Porter 
did  who  was  not  skilful  in  marshalling  her  forces 
and  setting  others  at  work.  One  trifling  instance  of 
this  will  suggest  her  methods.  The  browning  of 
coffee  was  a  task  too  delicate  to.be  trusted  to  care- 
less or  inexperienced  hands  yet  one  for  which  her 
own  time  was  quite  too  precious.  For  many  years  a 
poor  old  neighbor,  dependent  on  the  parish  for 
support,  came  weekly  for  the  berries  which  she 
browned  with  most  painstaking  care  to  the  exact 
shade  desired,  over  her  own  little  stove,  and  took 
her  toll  for  her  own  drinking.  Another  neighbor 
famous  for  her   skill    in    putting   up    fruit,  relieved 


136  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

the  pastor's  wife  from  much  of  that  care  and  in 
return  received  a  share  of  the  fruit,  and  was  assist- 
ed in  knitting  for  her  family  by  the  tireless  fingers 
of  Mrs.  Porter,  whose  needles  were  always  in 
motion  while  [she  received  guests  and  listened  to 
the  stories  of  domestic  or  parish  difficulties,  poured 
from  all  quarters  into  her  sympathetic  ears.  The 
household  always  included  others  than  her  own; 
during  almost  all  the  years  at  Green  Bay  she  had 
some  lady  teacher  in  the  family;  through  whom 
she  was  able  to  gain  influence  over  the  young  peo- 
ple. Miss  Mary  Waters,  afterward  Mrs.  John 
Smith  of  Peoria,  Ills.,  was  first  with  them,  beloved 
as  a  sister  by  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  Later  Miss 
Sabra  Adams,  (now  Mrs.  H.  H.  Benson  of  Wau- 
watosa,  Wis.,)  and  her  sister  Miss  Martha  Adams 
for  many  years  and  still  a  devoted  laborer  in  A. 
M.  A.  work  at  the  south,  were  in  the  home.  A 
nephew  of  Mr.  Porter's,  stepson  of  one  of  his  sis- 
ters, was  for  five  years  a  member  of  the  family 
while  studying  law,  and  beginning  its  practice  at 
Green  Bay.  He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  mind,  just 
from  college,  critical  and  inclined  to  skepticism — 
but  was  soon  won  to  admiring  love  for  Aunt  Eliza 
and  ready  to  admit  that  her  goodness  was  genuine 
and  her  mind  as  keen  as  her  heart  was  kind.  She 
saw  through  shams  and  hated  them  as  vigorously 
as  did    the    arrogant  student,  but   she  believed  in 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  i:;; 

God  and  goodness  as  he  was  trying  not  to,  and  as 
he  watched  her  daily  life  he  acknowledged  a  power, 
not  of  the  earth  which  made  her  in  her  weakness, 
strong.  The  daughters  of  her  younger  brother 
who  lived  in  Illinois,  spent  years  in  her  family,  three 
being  there  in  turn,  and  part  of  the  time  two  to- 
gether. Aside  from  these  inmates  of  the  home, 
transient  guests  were  constantly  coming  and  going. 
Green  Bay  was  the  terminus  of  the  steamer 
route  from  Buffalo,  so  that  almost  all  ministers  on 
their  way  to  and  from  the  east,  passed  through 
there.  The  pastor's  house  was  always  open  to 
them,  and  they  were  entertained  with  a  beautiful 
hospitality  which  made  such  visits  long  to  be 
remembered.  Home  missionaries  with  their  fami- 
lies, weary  preachers  off  for  vacation  and  not 
a  few  tourists  whose  names  are  widely  known, 
came  to  the  little  home.  How  either  house 
or  purse  proved  adequate  to  the  many  demands 
upon  them  is  hard  to  understand,  but  the  well  or- 
dered household  was  prepared  for  emergencies  and 
the  great  hearted  woman  who  presided  over  it  ac- 
cepted each  guest  as  sent  of  the  Lord,  and  her 
ministry  to  physical  need  as  part  of  the  service 
rendered  Him.  The  parish  extended  far  out  in 
the  country,  not  a  few  came  from  a  distance  for 
Sabbath  worship,  some  of  these  were  very  poor 
people.      One   family  who   lived   seven    miles    dis- 


138  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

tant  brought  several  little  children.  If  they  stayed 
to  the  afternoon  service  they  must  have,  and  even 
if  they  went  back  before  it,  they  needed  a  mid- 
day meal.  How  should  it  be  provided?  Could 
the  already  over-burdened  house-mother  under- 
take that  also?  Her  courage  almost  failed  but 
never  quite,  and  she  loved  to  tell  how  God  made 
plain  the  way. 

Among  those  brought  into  the  church  during  the 
early  years  of  Mr.  Porter's  ministry,  was  an  elderly 
lady  whose  husband  was  a  judge  in  very  comfort- 
able circumstances.  He  was  much  displeased 
that  his  wife  left  his,  the  Episcopal  church,  which 
however,  he  rarely  attended,  for  the  "Fanatical 
Presbyterian"  and  would  contribute  nothing  to  its 
support.  The  wife  however,  had  control  of  the 
household  expenditures  and  for  years,  each  Satur- 
day there  came  to  the  parsonage  loaves  of  bread, 
cards  of  sweet  raised  buns,  and  often  a  great  pan 
of  doughnuts  from  Grandma — there  was  no  more 
question  about  the  Sunday  lunch,  and  many  an 
hour  of  tender  helpful  teaching  Mrs.  Porter  gave 
while  serving  tea,  buns  and  doughnuts  to  country 
parishioners.  At  one  time  the  family  from  Duck 
Creek  came  in  the  week  time  with  sick  children 
to  get  medical  advice..  The  weather  was  bitterly 
cold,  they  could  not  be  sent  home  beyond  the 
reach  of  a  physician,  so  room  was  found  or  made  for 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  ISO 

them  in  the  little  cottage  and  the  mother,  com- 
forted and  instructed  in  the  art  of  nursing  while 
Mrs.  Porter  watched  with  her  for  many  days  over 
the  little  ones.  Both  recovered  and  the  only  com- 
ment in  Mr.  P's  journal  is  "We  are  very  grateful 
that  we  could  help  bear  their  burdens."  Not  a 
word  of  what  it  cost!  Four  untidy,  ill-cared  for 
persons  taken  into  Mrs.  Porter's  daintily  neat  and 
carefully  ordered  home! 

Other  guests  came  too,  stole  in  under  cover  of 
the  night,  whose  presence  must  not  be  known  even 
by  the  neighbors,  for  there  was  a  strong  pro-slavery 
element  in  the  parish  and  not  a  little  ill-feeling  at 
the  pronounced  abolition  views  of  the  pastor.  This 
story  we  can  give  in  Mrs.  Porter's  own  words  as 
she  wrote  it  out  at  the  request  of  Dr.  William 
Crawford,  when  he  was  preparing  a  historical  dis- 
course for  the  fortieth  anniversary  of  the  Green 
Bay,  church.  She  wrote:  "I  am  not  surprised 
that  you  could  not  learn  much  in  regard  to  the  con- 
cealment of  the  fugitives  for  it  was  secret  service, 
before  the  Lord,  which,  had  we  taken  counsel  of 
wise  men  in  -church  and  state  could  not  have  been 
performed.  The  facts  were  on  this  wise,  A  letter 
came  from  Mr.  L.  Goodell  of  Stockbridge,  saying 
that  a  father  and  his  children  had  for  some  time  en- 
joyed refuge  in  that  Indian  nation,  but  pursuers 
had  discovered  their  resting  place   and   would  rind 


140  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

means  to  re-enslave  them.  Friends  had  planned 
to  send  them  by  night  to  Green  Bay.  Would  we 
receive  them  and  send  them  to  the  steamboat  on 
the  coming  Tuesday?  Surely  we  could  do  that 
small  service  without  disturbing  any  conscience 
however  weak,  especially  as  the  captain  of  the 
boat  was  said  to  be  an  abolitionist.  They  would 
arrive  at  night  and  could  be  put  on  board  without 
observation.  They  did  not  arrive  at  the  hour 
appointed;  but  at  midnight  we  were  awakened  by 
a  knock  at  our  window,  and  there  stood  the  poor 
trembling  father,  and  three  cold  hungry  children. 
Our  house  was  already  full  and  the  boat  was  not 
in  port,  and  they  feared  the  pursuers  were  on  their 
track.  In  a  few  hours  many  inquisitive  eyes  and 
ears  would  be  open.  Mr.  Porter  said:  'Where  can 
we  hide  them.  In  the  ice-house?  In  the  side 
closets  of  the  parsonage?'  I  asked  the  God  of  all 
wisdom,  love  and  truth  to  direct  and  during  the 
act  of  prayer  a  text  of  scripture  came  to  mind 
which  suggested  the  church.  'Yes.  That  is  the 
place,'  Mr.  Porter  replied,  'the  belfry!'  They 
were  warmed,  fed  and  comforted  with  the  assur- 
ance that  they  were  among  friends  and  then  Mr. 
Porter  took  them  to  the  sanctuary — to  the  highest 
place  in  it.  The  boat  we  looked  for  at  dawn,  did 
not  come;  four  long  days  and  anxious  nights  pass- 
ed, and  the  dear  man  fed   and  cheered  them    and 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  111 

did  not  grow  weary.  On  Saturday  morning  the 
question  came  what  effect  the  Sabbath  services 
might  have  upon  their  retirement;  indeed  many 
questions  were  arising  which  were  solved  by  the 
delightful  announcement  that  the  boat  was  in 
sight,  already  in  harbor.  Mr.  Porter,  Mr.  Kimball 
and  others  made  arrangements  for  their  departure. 
When  I  opened  the  church  door,  the  glad  father 
and  happy  children  rushed  out  and  took  their  places 
in  a  little  sail-boat  which  was  waiting  for  them  at 
the  shore  and  were  carried  to  the  steamer  Michi- 
gan, when  Capt.  Stewart  took  them  into  his  care 
and  conveyed  them  to  her  Majesty's  land  of  free- 
dom. On  landing  the  first  act  of  the  grateful  father 
was  to  prostrate  himself,  kiss  the  free  soil,  and 
give  thanks  to  the  Lord  who  had  brought  them 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  Mrs.  Porter  adds 
in  parenthesis:  "There  were  so  many  ludicrous  in- 
cidents connnected  with  the  whole  affair  that  as  I 
write   I  must    need   pause   and   laugh   alone". 

At  another  time  a  very  tempest  of  revolt  was 
stirred  up  in  one  little  girl's  heart  by  "a  dirty  black 
girls'"  being  lodged  in  the  child's  room.  When,  how- 
ever, in  the  middle  of  the  night  the  poor  fugitive 
sprang  up  with  wild  cries  that  "the  officers  are  after 
me'.'and  the  penitent  child  saw  the  marks  of  the  cruel 
whip  across  her  shoulders,  a  passion  of  desire  to 
atone  for  her   selfishness   took    |  ion   of   her, 


142  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

and  the  patient  mother,  who  a  few  hours  before 
had  tried  in  vain  to  win  cheerful  consent  to  the 
defilement  of  her  presence  in  the  room,  now  had 
equal  difficulty  in  persuading  the  impetuous  little 
creature  that  she  ought  not  to  give  all  her  most 
cherished  possessions  to  the  poor  girl  to  "make  up." 
Evidently  a  house  full  of  such  ardent  little  peo- 
ple was  not  a  safe  place  for  concealment  and  the 
wanderer  was  hurried  on  to  Mr.  Tank's  more  quiet 
home  to  await  a  steamer.  Among  Mrs.  Porter's 
marked  characteristics  were  her  fearlessness  and 
quiet  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  an  in- 
stance or  two  of  this  fortitude  and  calm  will  show 
how,  as  if  instinctively,  her  mind  went  forward  to 
the  thing  to  be  done,  and  emotion  was  held  in 
abeyance  for  action.  Soon  after  their  coming  to 
Green  Bay,  while  they  were  in  Mr.  Mitchell's  large 
house  the  eldest  son,  not  four  years  old,  was  seen 
one  day  perched  on  the  ridgepole  of  the  high  roof. 
He  had  made  his  way  up  a  long  ladder  to  the 
eaves, from  there  to  the  top,  and  was  in  a  position 
of  real  peril.  The  mother  saw  him,  hardly  dared 
to  look  for  a  moment,  realized  that  no  one  could 
reach  the  child  without  startling  him  and  increas- 
ing his  danger.  She  stopped  for  an  instant  of 
prayer,  then  spoke  in  the  quiet  tone  which  he  was 
always  accustomed  to  obey.  "You  have  been  on 
the  roof  long  enough   dear,  come   down   to   mam- 


GREEN  BAY  LIFE  148 

ma,"  There  was  no  suggestion  of  anxiety  or  fear, 
it  was  so  simple  and  matter  of  fact  that  the  baby 
boy  was  not  disturbed,  but  unconscious  of  danger 
made  the  perilous  descent.  A  friend  who  was  in- 
side the  window,  and  who  told  the  story  said:  "I 
sat  and  cried,  but  Mrs.  Porter  just  looked  up  smil- 
ing to  encourage  the  child,  and  did  not  go  near 
the  ladder  until  he  was  within  her  reach."  At 
another  time,  one  Saturday  morning  the  nursery 
was  arranged  for  the  weekly  baths — the  tubs  set 
near  the  stove,  and  a  great  fire  of  pine  kindled, 
the  stovepipe  loosened  near  the  chimney  and  be- 
gan to  fall.  Cotton  clothing  was  lying  about  the 
room  and  three  little  children  playing  there.  Mrs. 
P.  saw  the  danger  to  them  and  the  probability  that 
curtains  or  bedding  would  take  fire,  she  stepped 
forward,  caught  and  held  the  almost  red  hot  pipe, 
and  said,  "Go  quickly  for  papa!"  Before  help 
came  the  hands  were  blistered,  in  one  or  two  spots 
burned  to  the  bone,  but  she  had  not  loosened  her 
hold  Not  a  hair  of  baby  curls  was  singed,  little 
nerves  scarcely  startled,  for  there  had  been  no  ex- 
clamation either  of  fear  or  pain,  just  the  eager 
mother  look  of  protecting  love,  while  she  waited. 
There  were  never  any  but  little  children  in  that 
home.  The  eldest  son  left  at  nine  years  of  age 
for  New  England,  the  second  before  he  was 
twelve,  and  the  eldest  daughter   went  to  Chicago, 


144  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

to  the  home  of  Mrs.  John  Williams,  for  her  ninth 
winter.  They  returned  to  be  sure,  but  the  boys 
for  no  long  continued  home  life  and  the  daughter 
was  in  the  Hadley  academy  at  fourteen.  In  I845 
Henry  Dwight  the  fifth  son  and  sixth  child  was 
born.  He  was  a  frail  delicate  boy,  and  when  a 
little  sister  came  fifteen  months  later,  had  not 
learned  to  walk.  What  should  the  mother  do 
with  two  helpless  babies?  She  loved  to  tell  the 
story  how  her  sallow-faced,  great-eyed  boy  was 
brought  to  her  bedside,  andshe  explained  to  him 
that  this  was  his  baby,  a  little  sister  come  to  be 
his  peculiar  charge.  Oh!  wise  mother!  She  had 
reason  to  anticipate  chivalry  from  his  father's  sons. 
The  sick  baby  boy  did  not  disappoint  her  trust, 
however  much  he  needed  mother's  care,  a  sound 
from  the  cradle  was  a  signal  for  his  slipping  from 
her  lap  and  "My  baby  cry," was  his  plea  for  her  to 
take  up,  not  himself,  but,  "little  sister."  The  tired 
mother  rejoiced  in  her  generous  boy,  and  of  all 
household  stories  loved  to  repeat  none  better  than 
incidents  of  his  unchildlike  unselfishness  and  de- 
votion to  the  chubby  unappreciative  usurper  of  all 
the  peculiar  rights  and  privileges  of  that  kingdom 
which  belongs  in  every  home  to  the  youngest. 

The  year  1849  saw  the  birth  of  the  last  daughter, 
a  sweet  fair-headed  blue-eyed  maiden  who  seemed 
especially  mother's  because  more  of  a  Chappell  than 


M  A  1  •  A  M       lUk 


(j     ihE 
UNIVERb.it  OF  ILLINOIS 


GREEN  R.JY  UFB  140 

Porter,  in  coloring  and  feature.  She  stayed  with 
us  but  a  year,  and  dear  memories  in  the  home, 
and  another  little  mound  in  the  graveyard  v. 

all  left  on  earth  of  the  mother's  namesake  Eliza. 
Two  years  later  the  ninth  and  last  child  came  to 
the  circle  named  Robert,  for  Mrs.  P's  father  and 
Otto  for  Mr.  Tank,  who  had  the  year  before  come 
to  Green  Bay  and  was  already  one  of  the  most  be- 
loved friends  of  the  family.  No  life  of  Mrs.  Por- 
ter would  be  complete  which  did  not  give  some- 
what full  mention  of  this  singular  and  remarkable 
household.  This  cannot  be  better  done  than  by  a 
little  sketch  prepared  for  the  Chicago  Advance  at 
the  time  of  Mrs.  Tanks  death  in  1891,  which  will 
be  found  in  the  appendix.  In  desire  to  promote 
the  cause  of  Christ,  and  devotion  to  his  service 
Mrs.  Tank  and  Mrs.  Porter  were  kindred  spirits, 
but  in  all  the  circumstances  of  their  lives,  and  in 
their  natural  endowments  and  qualities  there 
could  hardly  have  been  a  greater  contrast.  Prac- 
tical work,  the  guidance  and  control  of  those  about 
her,  and  the  details  of  household  management 
were  as  easy  for  the  one  as  difficult  for  the  other. 
No  man,  woman,  or  child,  came  into  Mrs.  Porter's 
circle  with  whom  she  did  not  soon  find  or  make  a 
common  interest,  while  Mrs.  Tank  looked  in  vain 
for  that  which  was  sympathetic  or  congenial  among 
this  busy  alien  people.      The  two  households  s< >« >n 


H6  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

became  very  intimate.  Mary,  the  only  child  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tank,  was  allowed  to  associate  with 
almost  no  other  young  people,  but  was  soon  at 
home  in  the  pastor's  family.  She  and  Charlotte 
Porter  were  of  the  same  age  and  their  child  friend- 
ship grew  with  the  years,  and  was  a  most  helpful 
one  to  both.  Mrs.  Porter  appreciated  and  loved 
Mrs.  Tank,  and  she  in  turn  had  the  most  reverent 
and  tender  attachment  for  the  wise  and  practical 
friend,  whose  judgment  she  trusted  and  whose 
methods  and  aims  seemed  to  her  so  Christlike. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  COURTHOUSE.       HOMELIFE     AND 
OTHER  INTERESTS 

The  private  schools  which  Mrs.  Porter's  influ- 
ence had  secured  from  time  to  time  at  Green  Bay, 
met  very  inadequately  the  needs  of  the  growing 
town.  The  want  of  proper  instruction  for  the 
youth  was  a  constant  burden  to  her  and  no  sooner 
was  she  released  from  the  demands  of  the  nursery 
than  she  determined  to  do  something  to  supply 
the  lack.  Robert  was  but  five  years  old  when  she 
decided  to  established  a  school  which  should  at 
least  be  a  beginning  of  better  things,  and  encour- 
age others  to  carry  them  forward.  Two  sisters, 
recent  graduates  of  Knox  college  were  found, 
daughters  of  old  Mackinaw  missionary  friends,  who 
were  willing  to  come  to  Green  Bay,  and  enter 
upon  this  school  work  with  no  fixed  remuneration. 
They  were  to  have  a  home  in  Mrs.  Porter's  family, 
and  receive  such  sums  as  should  come  from  a 
moderate  tuition.  No  child  was  however,  to  be 
excluded  from  the  school    because  not  able  to  pay 

for  its  privileges.      The    upper   floor  of   the  court- 

147 


148  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

house  building  was  secured,  four  large  and  two 
smaller  rooms.  In  the  main  room  Mrs.  P.  herself 
presided,  while  her  assistants  heard  recitations  and 
had  charge  of  the  older  pupils  in  the  others;  two 
nieces,  then  in  her  household,  gave  her  some  aid 
in  caring  for  the  one  hundred  children  who  were 
gathered  in  the  barely  finished  and  not  very  com- 
fortable large  room.  Mr.  Porter  was  enlisted  for 
recitations  each  day,  in  higher  mathematics  and 
Latin,  which  for  want  of  other  room  were  crowd- 
ed into  the  entry.  The  family  at  the  parsonage 
now  numbered  thirteen.  Happily  a  strong  and  effic- 
ient middle-aged  woman, generally  competent  in  her 
own  department,  presided  in  the  kitchen  so  Mrs. 
P.  was  not  obliged  to  be  head  cook  as  was  so  often 
the  case;  but  general  manager  she  was,  arranging 
and  perscribing  the  duties  of  each  one  of  the  some- 
what complex  family.  One  of  the  nieces  was  an  in- 
valid, able  to  meet  only  the  lightest  responsibilities, 
the  other  had  been  sent  to  her  aunt's  care  because 
of  over-wrought  nerves  and  needed  special  thought- 
fulness  and  wisdom  in  her  guidance.  The  efficient 
servant  was  mildly  insane  and  while  she  performed 
her  duties  thoroughly  and  well  was  not  to  be  relied 
on  as  to  temper,  and  might  be  confidently  expected 
to  produce  a  sensation  periodically,  by  the  develop- 
ment of  some  new  eccentricity.  The  young  ladies 
from  Galesburg  came  from  a  very  different   home; 


THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  COURTHOUSE  Mfl 

they  must  be  made  happy  in  the  little  crowded 
parsonage,  and  not  allowed  to  feel  too  keenly  the 
contrast  with  their  accustomed  life.  Mrs.  P.  had 
taken  up  each  of  these  responsibilities,  one  after 
another,  with  stong  conviction  of  duty,  and  her 
courage  did  not  fail  as  she  faced  them  all.  From 
kitchen  to  parlor,  from  nursery  to  school-room  she 
went,  not  forgetting  or  neglecting  one  interest  for 
another  and  for  months  she  showed  to  the  commun- 
ity that  there  was  need  and  demand  for  a  school  of 
high  grade,  which  should  fill  the  place  of  the  New 
England  academy. 

The  result  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  sys- 
tem of  graded  city  schools,  and  Mrs.  Porter  was  re- 
paid for  all  the  anxious  thought  and  many  months 
of  varied  labors  by  seeing  the  next  year  a  public 
school  established  with  a  thoroughly  qualified 
teacher  at  its  head,  and  a  corps  of  good  women  as 
his  assisstants. 

Mr.  Porter's  parish  included  two  or  three  preach- 
ing places  besides  his  own  church,  and  in  these 
outlying  districts  Mrs.  P.  took  the  keenest  interest, 
especially  in  a  Sunday-school,  which  she  had  been 
instrumental  in  gathering,  seven  miles  from  town 
at  the  already  mentioned  settlement  of  Duck 
Creek. 

It  has  been  said  that  Mrs.  P.  wrote  little  during 
these  years,  it  need  hardly  be  added  that  she— the 


150  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

eager  student,  so  fond  of  books — read  little.  The 
other  occupations  were  too  manifold,  but  here  she 
was  more  favored  than  many  women.  She  was 
never  allowed  to  lose  her  interest  in,  and  knowledge 
of  current  events,  but  kept  in  sympathy  with  the 
thought  of  the  time  in  theology,  literature  and  pol- 
itics. Mr.  Porter  read  aloud  as  naturally  and 
easily  and  with  apparently  as  little  fatigue  as  to 
himself,  and  wherever  mother  was,  in  pantry, 
nursery,  or  parlor,  he  followed  with  the  latest  news- 
paper or  magazine.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
were  so  voluminous  or  so  varied  as  now,  but  they 
were  read  more  conscientiously  than  in  the  pres- 
ent deluge  of  periodical  literature,  and  the  great 
events  of  church  and  state  were  known  and  dis- 
cussed in  the  household  This  reading  aloud  was 
Mr.  Porter's  relaxation  and  rest,  the  occupation  of 
his  leisure  hours;  and  what  a  refreshment  to  the 
busy  house-wife  and  mother  to  be  taken  from  her 
little  world,  without  neglecting  it,  into  the  larger 
sympathy  and  broader  outlook  of  those  who  were 
leaders  of  thought  and  action  in  Christian  phi- 
lanthropic and  scientific  lines!  In  hours  of  study 
she  was  also  when  practicable,  her  husband's  com- 
panion. The  work-basket  beside  his  table,  instead 
of  at  her  window,  that  she  might  share  his  read- 
ing and  thought,  if  only  by  snatches.  The  children 
early  learned  to  think   of   such    hours  as  mother's 


THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  COURTHOUSE  15] 

special  pleasures,  and  to  steal  away  with  their  eager 
demand  for  her  sympathy  or  aid,  which  were  never 
denied  them,  unuttered, because  "mamma's  in  the 
study!"  Clergymen  and  scholars  who  enjoyed  her 
hospitality  wondered  to  find  this  over-burdened 
housekeeper,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  high-strung 
exacting  children,  so  ready  to  converse  on  current 
topics,  so  familiar  with  the  questions  of  the  day. 
Her  mind  grasped  easily  and  held  tenaciously 
whatever  was  presented  to  it, — and  her  quick  com- 
prehension and  fine  perception  made  her  a  real  in- 
spiration to  those  who  had  intellectual  stores  at 
command.  They  soon  found  themselves  bringing 
out  their  best  and  finding  it  better  than  they  had 
known  as  this  gentle  woman,  with  her  keen  appre- 
ciation and  delicate  tact  drew  them  on.  Her  sense 
of  humor  was  unfailing,  she  was  not  witty,  had 
small  liking  for  jokes,  and  practical  ones  she  ab- 
horred, but  the  humorous  side  of  things  appealed 
to  her  and  the  look  of  amusement  which  would 
steal  into  her  eyes  was  often  a  great  relief  to  her 
children,  as  she  pointed  out  to  them  the  enormity 
of  some  infantile  transgression.  When  everything 
went  wrong,  and  there  was  no  way  out  of  a  diffi- 
culty, the  ludicrous  side  of  it  laid  hold  of  her,  and 
while  many  a  nervous  woman  would  have  cried, 
she  laughed.  The  secret,  however,  of  her  abound- 
ing   joyousness,    was    neither  in   the   tender  love 


152  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

which  surrounded  her  in  her  home,  nor  in  her 
natural  buoyancy  and  versatility.  She  fed  upon 
the  word  of  God.  No  human  presence  was  so 
real  to  her  as  that  of  the  Divine  friend  and  Helper. 
In  her  work-basket,  or  held  open  on  a  table, 
wherever  she  was,  lay  her  little  text-book.  She 
went  to  it,  often  and  eagerly,  as  a  thirsty  man 
seizes  a  glass  of  cool  water.  One  of  her  sons  said: 
"We  have  been  brought  up  on  milk,  and  proverbs." 
It  was  almost  literally  true.  The  simplest,  most 
nutritious  food  for  the  body,  God's  word  the  stand- 
ard and  law  for  the  spirit.  We  must  obey  her  be- 
cause it  was  His  requirement.  The  solemn  repe- 
tition of  "Even  a  child  is  known  by  his  doings' 
made  us  feel  long  before  we  understood  it,  that 
our  little  trivial  acts  were  part  of  ourselves,  the 
mere  showing  out  of  that  which  we  were.  For 
every  crisis  and  place  of  decision  she  had  some 
"word  of  the  Lord"  and  the  Psalmist's  most  ardent 
expressions  as  to  the  word,  upon  which  his  soul 
feasted,  seemed  the  unexaggeratedstatementof  her 
love  and  delight  in  that  "Law  and  testimony." 

Everything  which  perplexed  or  troubled  her  she 
carried  to  the  secret  place,  and  often,  as  she  came 
from  the  little  closet,  there  was  a  light  on  her  face 
which  seemed  the  very  reflection  of  His  upon 
which  she  had  looked.  The  absolute  calm  with 
which  she  held  to  a  purpose   once   formed,  the  in- 


THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  COURTHOUSE  153 

flexible  determination  with  which  she  carried  it 
out,  were  born  of  the  conviction  that  she  had 
"Received  it  of  the  Lord."  This  gave  a  gentle- 
ness to  her  firmness,  a  patience  to  her  deter- 
mination which  made  each  well  nigh  invincible. 
She  could  wait,  but  she  could  not  abandon 
a  purpose  which  she  truly  believed  to  be  God's 
plan,  and  so  those  about  her  came  to  share  her 
conviction  that  whatever  she  thus  undertook 
would  prosper,  and  that  Mrs.  Porter's  judgment, 
might  be  relied  upon  for  their  own,  as  well  as  for 
her  personal  decisions. 

In  the  journals  there  are  periodical  references 
to  the  meetings  of  the  Juvenile  Missionary 
society  often  with  the  addition  of  such  a  sen- 
tence as  "The  children  enjoyed  a  lunch  together;" 
or  "The  boys  and  girls  had  dinner  at  the 
parsonage."  No  church  in  which  Mr.  P.  was 
pastor  but  observed  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer 
for  missions,  and  none  where  Mrs.  P.  did  not 
gather  the  children  to  teach  them  of  the  need  of 
those  in  the  places  to  which  the  gospel  light  had 
not  gone,  and  to  show  them  that  their  little  gifts 
might  help  to  open  doors,  and  have  their  part  in 
bringing  the  blessed  light  of  life  to  the  needy. 
Before  Mr.  Porter  left  Green  Bay  the  little  circles 
at  De  Pere.  and  Fort  Howard  to  which  he  had 
preached,  had  church  buildings  and  pastors  of  their 


154  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

own,  and  the  Duck  Creek  Sunday-school  had  be- 
come a  regular  service,  under  the  care  of  a  noble 
Christian  lawyer,  from  the  Episcopal  church. 

The  people  in  these  places  however,  as  in  other 
communions  in  Green  Bay,  itself,  still  looked  to 
those  who  had  been  with  them  so  long  as  counsel- 
lors and  helpers  in  times  of  difficulty  and  sorrow. 
Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  rich  and  poor, 
learned  and  ignorant,  were  among  their  warm- 
ly attached  friends  and  not  a  few  count  it  still, 
among  the  blessings  of  their  lives  that  in  youth 
they  knew  and  loved  Mrs.  Porter.  The  Green  Bay 
church,  although  able  to  pay  but  a  meagre  salary 
was  not  a  Home  Missionary  one,  during  Mr.  Por- 
ters pastorate,  but  it  was  the  only  self-supporting 
one  in  the  region.  The  town  was  the  port  for  lake 
steamers  from  Buffalo  and  Chicago  and,  as  there 
were  no  railroads  in  those  days,  all  traffic  from  the 
east  passed  through  it.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  naturally 
received  and  entertained  most  of  those  sent  out  by 
the  A.  H.  M.  S.  as  they  came  and  went,  and  knew  in- 
timately such  households  and  their  needs.  So,  as 
naturally,  home  missionary  boxes,  were  received, 
and  their  contents  assorted  and  repacked  in  the 
home,  and  sent  here  and  there  as  deemed  wise. 
At  how  many  such  assortings  the  children  assisted 
and  what  a  holiday  task  they  counted  it!  No 
word  of  condemnation  ever    came  from  the  lips  of 


THE  SCHOOL  IN  THE  COURTHOUSE  155 

the  mother,  wh<>  knew  from  experience  how  quickly 
a  mildly  expressed  criticism  of  hers  would  grow  in- 
to indignant  expressions  of  scorn  from  the  intense 
little  people  who  surrounded  her;  but  there  was 
an  unmistakable  look  in  her  eye,  and  a  smile  such 
as  none  of  them  ever  wished  to  bring  to  her  lips  by 
any  action  of  their  own,  as  she  drew  out  old  crino- 
line or  battered  beaver-hats  and  said:  "Take  those 
up  to  the  dark  closet  and  put  them  in  the  far 
corner."  None  of  them  ever  knew  where  or 
by  whom  that  "far  corner"  was  emptied,  but 
it  must  have  been  so  periodically.  There  was 
another  expression  on  her  face,  one  of  such  glad- 
ness and   tender  exultation,     as   she   found    "Just 

the  thing  for  Mrs. ,  baby,"  "Such  a  nice    suit 

for  Mrs. ."     "A  beautiful  coat    for   the    oldest 

boy  at — "  and  made  up  the  bundle  with  loving 
hands.  More  than  once  I  have  seen  a  weary 
home  missionary  mother  sit  beside  her,  shedding 
tears  of  relief  and  gratitude  as  they  looked  over 
the  store  set  aside  for  her  need,  and,  even  as  a 
child,  I  realized  the  delicate  thoughtfulness  which 
hid  away  the  almost  insulting  gift  of  cast  off  finery, 
or  clothing  too  much  soiled  for  a  home  of  refine- 
ment, and  brought  out  only  that  which  made  the 
offering  seem  one  of  sisterly  love  from  eastern 
friends,  and  relieved  the  need  without  wounding 
the  spirit  of  the  recipient. 


156  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

So  the  years  went  on  until  1858,  full  of  cares 
and  duties,  and  each  one  knitting  closer  the  ties, 
which  bound  them  to  the  northern  Wisconsin 
home  and  work.  At  this  time  it  seemed  desirable 
to  Mr.  Porter  both  for  his  own  sake  and  that  of 
the  church  that  a  change  of  pastors  should  be  made, 
and  he  resigned  his  charge.  The  family  were 
scattered;  the  eldest  son  in  broken  health  on  a 
sea  voyage  seeking  restoration,  other  children  in 
school  at  Hadley,  where  all  were  sent  for  the  win- 
ter except  little  Robert,  who  went  with  his  mother 
to  Western  New  York,  among  her  kindred.  Mr. 
Porter  accepted  a  call  to  a  mission  church  in  Chi- 
cago, and  there  after  a  few  months  his  wife  joined 
him. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  CHICAGO  PARISH   1858-1861.       BEREAVEMENT — 
THE  WAR 

During  the  winter  of  1858-59,  they  boarded  near 
the  Edward's  chapel,  which  stood  on  the  corner  of 
Harrison  and  Halsted  streets. 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  very  needy  portion  of 
the  city,  and  there  was  no  other  Protestant  church 
so  far  to  the  south  or  west.  A  home  was  found 
and  purchased  a  few  blocks  farther  south  on  Hal- 
sted street,  nearly  opposite  the  now  well-known 
Hull  House,  then  recently  built,  and  the  residence 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  J.  Hull,  with  their  son  and 
daughter.  They  were  most  kindly  and  thoughtful 
neighbors,  ever  gratefully  remembered  by  Mrs.  Por- 
ter for  the  tender  sympathy  and  aid  in  the  months 
which  followed.  In  March  1859  the  scattered 
family  gathered  in  the  new  house.  Such  a  glad 
reunion,  and  such  a  welcome  as  the  mother  gave 
her  wanderers!  There  were  to  be  no  more  wide 
separations;  Beloit  with  its  college  was  near;  the 
sons  could  spend  their  vacations  at  home,  the 
eldest,  if  unable   to  study,    find    occupation  there 

157 


158  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

while  the  daughters  and  younger  son  could  attend 
school  in  the  city.  Happy  planning  for  a  united 
family  life.  It  was  enjoyed  for  a  few  brief  months, 
from  which  some  summer  visits  were  sub- 
tracted, but  in  the  early  autumn  disease  invaded 
the  circle;  first  the  youngest  son,  and  five 
weeks  later,  the  eldest  daughter  were  taken 
away.  The  little  boy's  disease  was  slow,  in- 
sidious typhus,  so  that  up  to  the  very  last  days 
the  physicians  thought  the  case  not  a  serious  one. 
The  mother  was  early  alarmed  and  saw  her  child 
slipping  from  her  while  no  one  else  recognized 
his  danger.  She  led  his  thoughts  to  the  probabil- 
ity that  he  might  not  recover  and  rejoiced  in  the 
simple  child  faith  which  seeing  Jesus  as  his  Saviour 
knew  no  fear.  One  Sabbath  morning  the  change 
came,  and  there  was  a  day  of  terrible  suffering. 
It  was  most  distressing  to  look  upon  and  the  pa- 
thetic voice  again  and  again  pleaded  with  those 
about  him  "not  to  cry."  He  had  no  need  to  plead 
with  his  mother,  she  was  too  intent  on  ministering 
to  every  want,  on  finding  some  relief  for  his  anguish, 
for  tears.  From  dawn  until  evening  she  stood 
beside  him;  just  as  the  sun  was  setting  he  sprang 
into  her  arms,  in  the  last  struggle  for  breath. 
She  held  him  high,  only  his  feet  touching  the  bed, 
and  as  she  laid  back  tenderly  the  form  which  had 
been  his,  knowing  that  he  was  gone,  she  seemed  to 


THE  CHICAGO  PARISH  UN 

look  beyond  to  that  into  which  he  had  entered,  and 
exclaimed,  "I  wish  yon  joy,  my  darling!" 

Another  fortnight  and  she  was  watching  her 
eldest  daughter's  contest  with  the  deadly  typhus. 
It  was  in  her  case,  of  quite  another  type,  violent 
from  the  first.  Physicians  said  only  Mrs.  Porter's 
wonderful  nursing  kept  her  alive  the  last  week. 
How  could  she  give  her  up,  just  at  the  dawn  of 
her  young  womanhood,  her  gifted  and  lovely  Char- 
lotte, returned  to  her  after  two  years  of  absence, 
ready  to  be  mother's  right  hand,  and  so  well  fitted 
for  the  service  of  Christ  in  the  world?  As  long  as 
there  was  anything  to  be  done  she  contended  with 
the  disease,  but  after  three  weeks  it  was  plain 
that  the  poor  body  could  bear  no  more,  and  the 
desolate  mother,  until  now  so  alert,  so  resolutely 
hopeful,  quieted  herself  as  a  wearied  child,  "Dumb, 
because  Thou  did'st  it."  The  dear  cousins,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  John  C.  Williams  and  their  daughter  Mrs 
Blatchford,  took  the  members  of  the  stricken  house- 
hold to  their  homes  on  the  south  and  north  sides 
of  the  river,  while  that  on  Halsted  street  was  fumi- 
gated and  renovated.  After  ten  days,  those  who 
were  left  returned,  and  Mrs.  Porter  found  vent  for 
her  love  and  sorrow  in  labors  fur  the  suffering  and 
wretched,  and  in  the  work  of  the  parish.  The 
sympathy  of  family  friends  and  of  the  few  who  re- 
mained of  the  circle  whom  she  had  known  in  Chic 


1G0  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

in  the  early  days  was  very  dear  to  her,  and  in  the  re- 
newing of  such  ties,  and  in  association  with  persons 
of  congenial  tastes,  intellectual  and  spiritual,  she 
found  real  pleasure  and  help  to  bear  the  loneliness 
of  her  home.  She  could  less  than  ever,  allow  it  to 
be  a  selfish  one.  There  were  too  many  who  needed 
her  to  permit  any  self-indulgent  grief,  only  those 
who  came  upon  her  unawares,  when  she  thought 
herself  quite  unobserved,  knew  what  bitter  tears 
she  shed  for  her  own,  and  by  what  pleading  for 
strength,  was  won  the  serene  and  cheerful  spirit 
which  pervaded  her  life. 

Every  room  in  the  city  house  was  full  but  it  was 
not  as  large  as  the  queer  rambling,  often-added- 
to  Green  Bay  cottage,  and  more  crowded,  with 
two  nephews  and  a  niece  in  the  family,  beside  her 
own  household,  than  that  had  been.  This  home 
which  had  been  made  ready  with  such  loving  care 
for  her  children,  is  associated  most  closely  with 
renunciation.  Much  of  parish  work  was  done 
there,  there  was  not  a  little  of  sweet  and  whole- 
some family  life;  to  it  the  sorrowful  came  for 
comfort,  the  wayward  for  counsel.  One  dear  niece 
found  here  the  man  of  her  choice,  as  an  elder  sister 
had  down  in  the  Green  Bay  home.  Here  in  June 
i860  a  large  company  of  friends  gathered  to  cele- 
brate the  silver  wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter 
and  here   many  of  the   problems   of  city    mission 


THE  CHICAGO  PARISH  16] 

work  were  considered  by  those  who  have  become 
acknowledged  leaders  in  its  prosecution.  But  to 
the  family  it  was  specially  the  home  of  bereavement; 
as  parents  and  children  they  were  never  again  to 
be  together  as  one  household.  Happily  they  did 
not  know  this,  only  knew  that  with  the  breaking 
out  of  the  civil  war  theirs  was  one  of  many  circles 
to  be  scattered.  The  war-time  greatly  changed  the 
condition  of  the  city,  and  it  was  necessary  to  re- 
consider the  whole  question  of  the  support  of  the 
mission  church.  The  eldest  son  and  two  nephews 
from  Mrs.  Porter's  family  had  enlisted,  and  when 
the  necessity  for  other  than  military  service  for  the 
army  became  manifest,  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  de- 
sired to  enter  upon  that  rather  than  continue  in 
the  work  of  the  parish.  When  the  N.  W.  sanitary 
commission  was  organized  they  were  invited  to 
aid  in  one  of  its  departments,  and  there  began  a 
service  which  ended  only  with  the  close  of  the  war. 
Mr.  P's.  connection  with  it  was  short,  as  after  a 
few  months  he  received  a  commission  as  chaplain 
in  the  First,  Ills.,  Light  artillery,  of  which  his 
old  friend,  afterwards  Gen.  J.  D.  Webster  was 
colonel.  Mrs.  Porter  remained  one  of  the  field 
agents  of  the  Northwestern  Sanitary  Commission 
until  its  work  was  finished,  the  last  lady  to  leave, 
as  she  had  been  the  first  to  enter   upon  its  work. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  NORTH-WESTERN    SANITARY  COMMISSION — WORK 
IN  THE  ARMY 

The  story  of  the  war  time  must  be  culled  from 
records  made  while  the  facts  were  fresh  in  memory 
and  while  the  documents  of  the  North  Western 
sanitary  commission  were  available.  Mrs.  Sarah 
E.  Henshaw  wrote  a  very  full  and  interesting  nar- 
rative of  that  organization  entitled  "Our  Branch 
and  is  Tributaries"  which  was  published  in  1868. 
From  this  and  from  a  paper  prepared  for  the  Chi- 
cago Historical  society  by  Mr.  Porter  in  1880,  the 
following  pages  are  gleaned.  Mrs.  Porter's  own 
journals — few  in  number — and  those  of  her  hus- 
band written,  during  these  eventful  years,  were  all 
lost  in  a  trunk  which  was  stolen  on  its  way  to  the 
north,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  pages  found 
among  the  papers  of  the  commission  which  ap- 
pear in  this  chapter. 

The  first  incident  from  Mr.  P's.    paper   belongs 

to  the  time  of  parish  work,  but  is  linked  with  that 

which  followed  as   illustrating    Mrs.  P's.    interest 

in  the  colored  people.     Whatever   the  war  meant 

162 


NOR  TH-  IVES  TERN  SAN1  TAR  Y  COMMISSION         1 03 

to  others,  to  her  it  was  God's  scourge,  by  which 
the  land  was  chastened  for  its  sin  of  holding  men 
and  women  in  slavery.  Its  object  was  to  break 
the  yoke  that  the  oppressed  might  go  free. 

Mr  P.  says:  "As  we  were  going  to  church  on  a 
communion  Sabbath  my  wife  proposed  leaving  me 
to  go  to  the  colored  church  on  east  Harrison  street. 
Friends  of  the  ex-slaves  had  arranged  that  vessels 
and  railroad  cars  should  take  that  day  as  many  as 
would  embark  for  Canada.  Reaching  the  African 
church  my  wife  found  the  people,  as  the  Israelites 
of  old  in  their  exodus  from  Egypt;  the  Red  Sea 
before  them,  the  mountains  on  their  right  and  their 
left  hand  and  the  Egyptian  hosts  behind  them.  As 
Mrs.  Porter  went  praying  that  that  trembling  people 
might  be  taught  of  God,  what  to  do  in  such  an 
hour  of  agony,  she  was  comforted  by  such  words 
of  wisdom  from  the  colored  pastor  and  his  brethren 
as  she  had  hardly  heard  before.  The  pastor  said: 
'My  brethren,  I  usually  come  to  you  on  Sunday 
with  messages  of  love,  and  warning  to  save  your- 
selves through  the  blood  of  Christ,  from  the  slavery 
of  sin,  believing  that  you  had  escaped  from  human 
slavery.  But  to-day  I  find  we  have  no  country. 
This  is  no  longer  the  land  of  the  free,  the  govern- 
ment is  powerless  to  defend  its  own  people,  we 
must  flee  to  another  land. 

The  time  may  come  when  we  may  hope  by  fire 


164  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

and  sword,  by  guns  and  bayonets,  to  defend  our- 
selves, and  secure  the  rights  that  our  God  and 
Father  has  given  all  His  children,  and  at  such  a 
time  he  who  will  not  fight  for  his  own  and  his 
children's  liberty  is  not  worthy  of  that  blessed  gift. 
To-day  we  may  not  right,  but  on  this  God's  holy 
day  must  flee  from  this  sacred  house  and  seek 
freedom  in  Canada,  leaving  here  all  we  have,  our 
homes,  our  many  white  friends  who  do  not  know 
to-day  whether  they  have  a  country. ' 

Mrs.  Porter  thus  saw  in  what  spirit  the  pastor 
and  his  children  and  his  Christan  brethen  met  this 
tremendous  crisis,  one  and  another  expressing 
similar  fears  hopes  and  resolves.  An  escaped  slave 
daughter  had  come  from  Boston  to  welcome  her 
mother,  who  had  just  come  from  the  South  to  the 
free  city  of  Chicago,  hoping  to  pass  her  days  in 
happiness  here,  but  the  long  black  arm  of  slavery 
reached  up  to  this  young  giant  city  of  the  West, 
swung  its  lead-loaded  whip,  over  its  wigwam  and 
court-house  and  demanded  the  return  of  every- 
fugitive,  to  bondage,  the  resort  of  that  African  as- 
sembly was  to  that  God  who  three  thousand 
years  before  had  said  'If  thou  afflict  any  widow  or 
fatherless  child,  and  they  cry  at  all  unto  me  I  will 
surely  hear  their  cry,  and  my  wrath  shall  wax  hot, 
and  I  will  kill  you  with  the  sword,  and  your  wives 
shall  be  widows  and  your  children  fatherless. '    Be- 


NORTH- WESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION         [65 

lieving  that  vengeance  belonged  to  the  Lord  and 
that  He  would  avenge  them  speedily  that  people 
escaped  to  the  shelter  of  Victoria's  throne.  You 
will  not  wonder  then,  that  after  Major  Anderson 
had  been  compelled  by  the  demand  of  that  same 
blighting  slave  power  that  had  said  'Lincoln  shall 
never  be  the  president  of  the  United  States'  to 
yield  up  the  national  flag  in  Charleston  harbor, 
that  Mrs.  Porter  when  asked  if  she  would  let  her 
son  go  into  the  army  to  protect  the  flag  and  break 
the  yoke  of  oppression  said:  'If  I  had  a  hundred 
sons  and  they  were  prepared  to  die,  I  would  give 
them  all. ' 

The  Northwestern  Sanitary  Commission  was 
organized  in  October  1861,  under  the  modest  title 
of  the  Chicago  Sanitary  commission.  By  the  in- 
vitation of  its  president  Hon.  Mark  Skinner  and 
its  treasurer  Mr.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Mrs.  Porter 
went  into  its  rooms  in  the  city.  This  story  can 
best  be  told  by  Mrs.    Henshaw.      She  says: 

"From  the  close  assocation  between  the  supply 
department  of  the  enterprise,  and  the  women  of  the 
country,  upon  whom  the  main  support  of  that  de- 
partment must  evidently  devolve,  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  secure  the  constant  presence  at  the 
Sanitary  rooms,  of  a  lady  of  intelligence,  character, 
and  social  position.  After  much  canvassing  Mrs 
Eliza  C.  Porter,  wife  of  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter   was 


166  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

induced  to  assume  this  position.  Lovely,  gentle  and 
refined,  yet  courageous,  heroic  and  devoted  she 
here  commenced  a  series  of  self-denying  labors  for 
the  army,  that  finally  took  her  to  the  front,  where 
she  faced  privation, sickness  and  death;  and  neither 
paused  nor  rested  from  her  work  so  long  as  the 
war,  lasted.  ...  In  the  spring  of  1862  came 
the  first  battles  of  the  Western  army,  the  wounded 
and  sick  were  sent  to  hospitals  in  Cairo,  Paducah, 
Mound  City,  and  other  points  on  the  Ohio  and  Mis- 
sissippi rivers — and  supplies  and  nurses  were  dis- 
patched from  the  North.  .  .  The  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg landing  found  Mrs.  Porter  at  Cairo,  where  she 
was  distributing  stores.  Hearing  that  a  boat  load 
of  wounded  was  in  route  for  Mound  City  she  hast- 
ened there  to  assist  in  its  reception.  The  boat 
arrived  in  the  evening.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  went 
on  board,  and  passed  through  scene  after  scene  of 
sorrow.  They  spent  the  night  in  administering 
refreshment  to  the  fainting,  stimulants  to  the  sink- 
ing and  comfort  to  the  dying.  Many  a  farewell  to 
father,  mother,  sister,  wife  and  friend  was  given 
to  their  tender  keeping. 

One  young  man  in  his  last  moments,  painfully 
drew  from  his  bosom  a  picture  of  his  betrothed 
and  with  broken  dying  accents  said  to  Mrs.  Por- 
ter, 'Tell  her — I  love  her!  Tell  her — I  loved 
her  to  the  last!'     Then  his  head  dropped  back  on 


NOR  TH-  IVES  TERN  SANITAR  Y  COMMISSION         1 07 

the  pillow  and  he  was  dead.  The  survivors  were 
placed  in  Mound  City  hospital.  Having  done 
what  she  could  there  Mrs.  Porter  hurried  back  to 
Cairo,  where  a  telegram  from  the  Commission  in- 
formed her  that  six  ladies  were  on  their  way 
thither,  as  nurses  for  Paducah.  These  she  con- 
ducted to  that  point  and  placed  in  hospitals  there 
which  were  also  filled  with  the  wounded  from  the 
battle  of  Pittsburg  landing.  Then  she  hastened  to 
the  front.  Here,  she  was  on  her  own  suggestion 
empowered  by  Dr.  McDougal  to  procure  for  the 
wounded  a  supply  of  female  nurses.  She  went 
back  to  Chicago,  obtained  the  number  desired, 
conducted  them  South  and  distributed  them  among 
the  hospitals  at  Savannah,  where  they  labored 
under   the    supervision  of  Mrs.  Bickerdyke. 

From  this  time  Mrs.  Porter  and  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke  occupied  the  position  of  'agents  in  the  field* 
for  the  Chicago  branch.  Their  work  lay  in  the 
hospitals  and  was  of  the  most  exhausting  charac- 
ter. They  distributed  supplies,  attended  the  sick, 
sacrificed  their  needful  sleep,  lived  in  sight  of 
wounds,  suffering  and  blood,  inhaled  often  a  tainted 
sickening  air;  were  wet  and  cold  and  hungry, 
slept  on  hard  beds,  dressed  in  rude  clothing,  ate 
coarse  food,  and  endured  every  kind  of  privation. 
Much  of  the  time  labored  together.  They  were 
so  admirably  harmonized   by  contrast  that  in  Sani- 


168  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

tary  work  each  seemed  the  complement  of  the 
other.  Mrs.  Porter  was  gentle.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke, 
brusque.  The  mildness  of  the  one  was  an  offset 
to  the  positiveness  of  the  other,  the  noiseless  effi- 
ciency of  the  one  to  the  turbulent  energy  of  the 
other.  The  culture  and  social  position  of  Mrs. 
Porter  gave  her  ready  access  to  the  officers;  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke  followed  her  own  bent  and  adaptation, 
in  devoting  herself  to  the  rank  and  file.  In  person 
Mrs.  Porter  was  petite;  Mrs.  Bickerdyke,  the  re- 
verse, their  very  voices  acquired  during  their  won- 
derful army  life  a  permanent  quality  which  in 
Mrs.  Porter  was  an  accent  of  pity  and  sympathy, 
in  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  of  protest  and  cheer.  Enthusi- 
astic testimonials  were  forwarded  from  different 
points  during  this  campaign  respecting  the  fidelity 
and  wisdom  in  distributing  the  stores  of  the  com- 
mission, evinced  by  Mrs.  Porter  who  took  great 
pains  to  make  the  soldiers  understand  the  source 
from  whence  came  the  goods  which  she  dispensed. 

The  Soldiers'  Home  at  Cairo  established,  nurses 
placed  in  the  hospitals  and  reliable  agents  in  charge 
of  Sanitary  stores  in  that  region  Mrs.  Porter  went 
down  the  river  to  Memphis. 

"At  Fort  Pickering  in  that  city  her  husband 
was  chaplain  of  a  convalescent  camp,  containing 
fifteen  hundred  men;  and  here  for  ten  months  her 
care  was  chiefly   bestowed.      Here  she  established 


NORTH-WESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION  IM 

a  rudimentary  form  of  a  diet  kitchen,  preparing  the 

daily  food  of  the  feeblest  invalids  over  an  open 
grate  in  her  own  room,  with  a  few  empty  cans  for 
utensils.  This  room  was  one  in  a  'Secesh'  house, 
which  stood  within  the  fort  and  had  been  appropri- 
ated by  government.  In  it  she  ate,  slept,  cooked, 
received  visitors,  and  stored  her  sanitary  supplies. 
After  a  little  while  a  cooking  stove  was  obtained 
and,  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Andrews  of  Chi- 
cago, then  surgeon  of  the  first  Illinois  Light  artil- 
lery, Mr.  Porter's  regiment,  a  diet  kitchen  was 
opened,  where  under  Mrs.  Porter's  administration, 
was  done  the  cooking  for  the  sick  With  what 
skill  this  idea  was  adopted  by  Mrs.  Wittenmeyer 
and  elaborated  in  the  'special  diet  kitchens'  of 
the  Christian  commission,  established  toward  the 
latter  part  of  the  war,  and  how  much  energy  and 
executive  ability  she  exhibited  in  their  manage- 
ment, is  well-known  throughout  the  country.  It 
may  be  worthy  of  mention  that  Mrs.  Wittenmyer 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Porter  and 
her  work,  wrote  to  her  asking  her  to  take  charge 
of  what  was  called  the  'great  diet  kitchen'  &J 
Nashville.  The  Christian  commission  authorized 
the  proposition  offering  to  pay  expenses  and  a 
salary.  Mrs.  P.  was  then  with  the  army  at  the 
South,  and  other  labors  seeming  more  imperative, 
she  declined    the  overture       During   the    time    she 


170  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

attended  the  convalescent  camp  in  Memphis,  Mrs. 
Porter  made  several  journeys  northward  to  stimu- 
late supplies;  this  endeavor  was  particulary  suc- 
cessful in  that  part  of  Illinois  called  Egypt.  Some 
towns  there,  supplied  her  for  months  with  a  suffi- 
ciency of  chickens,  eggs  and  butter,  to  provide  for 
her  worst  cases  of  illness. 

The  first  school  established  on  the  Missis- 
sippi— the  practical  beginning  of  Freedman's 
Bureau  work — was  opened  at  this  time  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Mrs.  Porter.  After  the 
1  Great  Proclamation'  the  negroes  flocked  by 
hundreds  into  Memphis.  Mrs.  P.  visited,  almost 
daily  their  crowded  camp  and  hospital,  riding 
from  Fort  Pickering  on  a  gentle  pony  set  apart  for 
her  use.  As  if  to  shame  the  prophecies  respecting 
their  idleness,  they  worked  ten  hours  a  day  on  the 
fortifications  of  Fort  Pickering,  under  a  burning 
sun,  and  built  themselves,  in  addition,  quite  a 
little  town.  This  collection  of  cabins  they  named 
"Shiloh."  One  Sunday,  Dr.  Andrews,  at  Mrs. 
Porter's  suggestion  proposed  a  school  in  the  new 
settlement.  Tractable  and  anxious  to  improve, 
the  negroes  were  filled  with  delight.  In  the  course 
of  a  week  they  sent  word  that  the  school  house 
was  ready.  Friends  at  the  north  were  at  once  ap- 
pealed to  and  entered  heartily  into  the  scheme, 
forwarding  supplies  and  books.  From  Chicago  came 


NOR  7 HIVES  TERN  S/4NI  TAR  Y  COMMISSION  1 7 1 

also  a  teacher,   Miss    M.    Humphrey,  who  taught 

with  much  success  this  first  school  for  colored  peo- 
ple ever  opened  in  Tenessee.  On  the  day  when 
the  school  was  inaugerated  Mrs.  Porter,  on  her 
pony  rode  down  to  the  new  Shiloh.  The  delight 
of  the  docile  freedman  was  unbounded.  The  end  of 
all  scholarship  was  to  them  the  reading  of  the 
Word.  'Grandpa,'  the  patriarch  of  the  settlement, 
asked  to  see  Mrs.  Porter,  and  broke  out  into  a 
strain  of  rejoicing  akin  to  that  of  the  aged  Simeon. 
Tse  waited  long  for  dis  yer  day!  I'se  prayed  dat 
my  chil'n  might  read  de  bressed  Book!  I'se  old 
now  but  de  promise  hab  come!' 

After  Mrs.  Porter  had  been  many  months  in 
Fort  Pickering,  one  of  the  ladies  from  the  Chicago 
headquarters  of  the  sanitary  commission  went 
down  on  a  tour  of  inspection  and  visited  Memphis 
among  other  points.  She  was  affected  somewhat 
as  one  might  have  been  whose  only  knowledge 
of  military  life  was  that  of  the  camp  in  time  of 
peace,  or  of  dress  parade.  It  was  much  as  if  such 
an  one  coming  upon  soldiers  in  the  field  had  been 
shocked  by  muddy  boots,  stained  uniforms  and  tat- 
tered flags.  The  brief  correspondence  is  interesting. 
Mrs.  P  with  all  her  gentleness  had  no  lack  of  per- 
sonal dignity,  and  the  quiet  pride  with  which  she 
reminds  her  friend  that,  as  the  Commission  have 
not  made  themselves  responsible  for  her   by  giving 


172  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

her  any  compensation  for  her  service  they  are  in 
no  way  compromised  by  her  shabbiness — is  very 
chacteristic.  It  should  be  added  that  she  must 
have  had,  at  this  time,  a  comfortable  wardrobe,  al- 
though not  accessible,  but  later  she  lost  everything 
and  came  north,  at  one  time  in  a  water-proof  dress, 
stained  in  hospital  and  on  the  battle  field,  because 
all  her  "reserves"  had  been  stolen  during  her 
absence  at  the  front. 

But  to  the  letters. 

"Chicago,  April  15th,  1863. 

My  dear   Mrs.  Porter: — . 

I  said  but  very  little  to  you  when 
I  was  in  Fort  Pickering  about  my  distress  at  see- 
ing you  so  comfortless  in  your  comparatively  deli- 
cate health,  but  I  resolved  to  talk  on  my  return  to 
the  rooms  of  the  commission.  .  .  Suffice  it  to 
say  a  camp  chest  is  bought  for  you  of  good  size, 
a  large  bill  of  hospital  necessaries*  purchased  for 
you,  which  are  being  shipped  to  you  to-day,  and 
you  are  henceforth  to  be  recognized  as  an  agent  of 
the  Sanitary  commission  with  salary.  .  My  ob- 
ject in  writing  you  now  is  to  get  you  to  send  me  a 
list  of  such  articles  of  clothing  as  you  need — a 
full,  large  and  ample  list — include  everything.  .  . 
The  feeling  is  at  last  awakened  that  you  are  doing 
a  great  deal  of  good  and  must  be  taken  care  of.  It 
would  have  been  understood  earlier,  my  dear  Mrs. 


NORTH-WESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION         173 

Porter,  if  you  were  not  so  very  modest,  quiet 
and  unobtrusive.  I  never  realized  it  until  I  saw 
you  in  your  humble  home  at  Fort  Pickering  and 
conversed  with  some  of  your  convalescent  patients 
and  learned  from  Miss  Humphrey,  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke  and  others  how  you  labored,  sacrificed  and 
toiled.  I  never  saw  Mr.  —  more  grieved  than 
when  I  narrated  to  him  your  self-denial,  patient 
labor,  and  modest  manner  of  doing  a  great  work 
and  we  have  all  resolved  that  you  are  to  be  better 
cared  for  hereafter.  .  .  Do  not  delay  to  send 
me  the  list  of  your  needs  in  the  way  of  clothng.  If 
you  decline  I  am  directed  to  make  the  purchases 
at  hap-hazard;  so  you  see  you  had  better  aid  me 
to  act  intelligently."    To    this  Mrs.  Porter  replies: 

"My  dear  Mrs.   

Your  letter  expressing  such  deep  con- 
cern in  my  welfare  was  duly  received,  and  while  I 
fully  appreciate  your  kindness  and  tender  my  sin- 
cere thanks  I  cannot  suppress  a  feeling  of  morti- 
fication that  after  so  many  months  of  unceasing 
toil  to  carry  out  the  wishes  and  forward  the  work 
of  our  noble  commission,  it  should  be  necessarry 
for  you  to  'talk'  and  make  such  an  effort  as  you 
speak  of  to  convince  them  that  I  really  was  at 
work.  I  felt  at  first  quite  disposed  to  recapitulate 
and  contrary  to  all  former  determinations,  for  once, 
to  make  a  report ;  but  I  think  the  old  position  was 


174  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

taken  with  the  highest  aims,  and  if  my  works  do  not 
tell  upon  the  comfort  of  the  soldiers  I  do  not  desire 
them  to  be  written.  I  trust  my  work  may  com- 
mend itself,  and  the  approbation  of  our  Father 
who  careth  for  us  with  the  'blessing  of  those 
ready  to  perish'  upon  our  hearts  we  can  but  rejoice 
in  labor,  although  self  denying  and  unknown.  I 
thank  you  most  kindly  for  your  interest,  and  hope 
since  it  seems  I  have  not  been  regarded  as  repre- 
senting the  commission,  that  neither  you  nor  they 
will  feel  disgraced  on  account  of  my  dilapidated 
condition.  Indeed  I  have  been  so  entirely  ab- 
sorbed in  pressing  care  for  those  whose  claims, 
and  wants  could  not  be  deferred,  that  I  have  not 
realized,  I  presume,  the  necessity  for  improvement 
in  that  direction.  Your  proposition  is  so  exten- 
sive and  liberal  that  I  hardly  know  how  to  meet 
it  unless  I  resign  myself  wholly  to  your  care, 
which  with  your  present  responsibilities  would  be 
anything  but  benevolence,  and  really,  after  prac- 
tising so  much  self-denial  as  you  give  me  credit  for, 
I  should  not  like  to  take  a  course  which  should 
lead  you  to  feel  that  I  had  expended  all  of  that 
quality  which  I  possess  in  caring  for  soldiers,  and 
become  regardless  of  others'burdens.  No!  my  dear 
Mrs.  —  you  must  accept  my  most  hearty  thanks 
for  your  sisterly  anxiety  and  kind  proffer,  but  I 
could  not,  without    doing   violence    to  my  sense  of 


NORTHWESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION  175 

right,  allow  you  to  take  such  additional  care.  In- 
deed I  think  some  slight  additions  to  my  ward- 
robe will  make  me  quite  comfortaole  and  I  will 
try  to  look  more  respectable  next  time  you  and 
the  surgeon  general  visit  me.  Pardon  my  folly 
and  accept  in  behalf  of  the  commission  and  for 
yourself  my  love  and  most  earnest  desire  that  you 
may  always  abound  in  every  good  word  and  work 
and  receive  the  'Well-done'  of  good  servants  who 
have  much  committed  to  them."  Mrs.  Porter's 
evident  annoyance,  that  those  who  had  taken  office 
work,  which  she  had  relinquished  for  that  in  the 
field,  should  think  of  themselves  as  agents  of  the 
commission  and  ask  that  she  be  made  such, is  doubt- 
less the  "folly"  for  which  she  begs  pardon.  She 
had  been  doing  its  work  from  the  very  beginning, 
that  she  had  not  been  takine  anything  from  its 
treasury  for  personal  use,  did  not  seem  to  her  to 
make  her  connection  with  it  less  real.  From  this 
time  however,  she  did  receive  a  small  salary  while 
in  its  service. 

During  the  summer  of  1863,  the  convalescent 
camp  was  very  unhealthful.  Mrs.  Porter  was  worn 
with  labor,  and  the  constant  draft  upon  her  sym- 
pathies, and  became  very  much  prostrated.  One 
of  her  children,  distressed  by  the  accounts  which 
reached  the  North,  determined  to  bring  her  home 
and,  in  spite  of   the   assurance   that   a   permit  for 


176  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

travel  into  the  military  district  could  not  be  ob- 
tained, succeeded,  in  reaching  her.  It  was  a  beau- 
tiful Sabbath  morning  when  she  drove  into  the 
Fort,  and  up  to  the  Chaplain's  quarters.  Her 
mother  came  out  in  astonishment  to  greet  her,  so 
thin,  wan,  and  shadowy  that  the  first  thought  was 
"It  is  too  late  she  will  never  see  the  North  again." 
But  she  had  a  loving  welcome  and  no  upbraiding 
for  what  seemed  so  wild  a  journey  for  a  young  girl. 
One  of  the  marked  impressions  was  the  home 
like  aspect  of  the  little  house,  under  the  trees  the 
daughter  said,  "Could  any  one,  but  you,  mother, 
make  a  room  look  like  this  with  no  furniture  but 
dry  goods-boxes  and  camp  stools?"  Mrs.  Porter 
laughed  as  she  answered  "Oh!  you  do  injustice 
to  my  resources.  I  have  beside  a  good  supply  of 
army  blankets,  some  of  them  red,  a  grate,  and  cot 
beds  behind  that  curtain.  Yes!  and  a  guest  room 
too,"  and  she  opened  the  door  into  a  little  hall- 
way, where  behind  another  curtain  was  the  place 
for  the  way-farer.  Examined  more  in  detail  the 
blanket-covered  boxes,  were  found  filled  with  sani- 
tary stores,  and  over  the  grate-fire  in  tin  fruit  cans, 
chicken  broth,  beef-tea,  and  dried  fruit  were  in 
preparation  for  "the  boys"  too  weak  for  service, 
but  too  strong  for  the  crowded  hospitals  of  Mem- 
phis. 

There   for  a  few  weeks  the   daughter  saw  the 


NORTHWESTERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION  17  7 

army  life  of  her  parents,  and  realized  how  poor  and 

small  the  physical  comforts  given  were  in  compari- 
son with  the  unfailing  love,  the  wise  counsel,  the 
hopefulness  and  cheer,  which  were  poured  out  in 
unwasting  abundance.  Never  more  than  in  this 
time  of  failing  strength  did  Mrs.  P.  long  to  impart 
some  "spiritual  gift"  to  every  one  who  came  with- 
in her  reach.  She  was  the  "Daughter  of  a  King". 
She  felt  her  royal  lineage,  that  she  was  sent  there 
to  tell  of  His  loving  kindness  to  prepare  these  who 
stood  face  to  face  with  death  to  go  before  Him  with 
joy.  I  believe  it  is  almost  literally  true  that  every 
cup  of  broth  and  saucer  of  fruit,  handed  out  by 
herself,  was  accompanied  by  some  word  of  advice, 
caution,  or  cheer,  and  many  a  man  had  slipped 
into  his  hand  an  illuminated  text,  or  tiny  book  of 
scripture  selections.  Poor,  broken  down  soldiers 
sat  under  the  trees  before  her  door,  or  crawled  to 
the  veranda  which  surrounded  the  low  cottage, 
waiting  their  turn  for  the  tender  greeting.  Almost 
every  day,  in  spite  of  the  June  heat  she  mounted 
her  beautiful  pony,  which  whinnied  with  pleasure 
as  she  came  in  sight,  and  rode  to  Shiloh  for  a 
part  of  the  school  session.  "Aunties'  and  "un- 
cles", clumsy  plantation  boys,  and  chubby  babies 
knew  both  the  pretty  silver  maned  sorrel  and  its 
rider,  and  stalwart  men  ran  to  the  roadside,  eager 
for  the  privilege  of  lifting  "Mis'  Porter"  down,  and 


178  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

tying  her  pony.  She  gathered  the  mothers  about 
her  in  the  low  cabins  for  prayer  and  instruction 
in  the  most  rudimentary  principles  of  house-keep- 
ing, praised  those  who  washed  the  children's 
faces,  gave  cast  off  clothing  from  those  unfailing 
northern  boxes,  to  the  most  needy,  and  seemed  to 
leave  a  line  of  light  behind  her,  in  better  cheer, 
awakened  conscience  and  kindled  affection.  A 
little  scene  may  illustrate  how,  when  no  other 
motive  was  likely  to  appeal  to  the  men,  she  could 
use  their  regard  for  herself,  to  save  them  from 
evil.  One  day  in  a  hospital  kitchen,  the  soldiers 
were,  with  too  good  reason,  bitterly  angry  with 
one  of  their  officers.  Loud  talking  and  disorderly 
conduct  were  likely  to  bring  swift  punishment,  but 
no  one  in  authority  was  near,  and  the  uproar  in- 
creased, one  rough  fellow  swore  terrible  oaths. 

It  was  more  than  Mrs.  Porter  could  bear,  she 
ran  swiftly  across  the  court-yard,  laid  her  soft 
hand  on  the  rugged  one  of  the  soldier  and  said: 
"That's  my  Father's  name  John!"  The  man  caught 
his  breath;  that  fragile  creature,  with  her  eager 
face  upturned,  had  stood  beside  his  bedside  when 
he  was  coming  back  to  consciousness  after  a  terri- 
ble operation,  had  helped  him  bear  the  first  agony 
of  knowing  himself  crippled  for  life,  and  now  he 
had  hurt  her!  He  sobbed,  like  a  child  and  said 
"I  wouldn't  a'  said  it,  if  I'd  known  you  was  there, 
and  God  help  me,  I  never  will  again! 


NORTH- Li  B STERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION  1  .  I 

The  daughter  had  gone  to  Memphis  to  take  her 
mother  north;  but  the  seige  of  Vicksburg  was  in 
progress,  there  was  likely  to  be  special  need  of 
hospital  stores,  and  nurses  and  Mrs.  Porter  be- 
lieved that  she  had  strength  for  that  demand.  It 
was  quite  a  new  experience  to  both.  Absolute 
divergence  of  judgment  and  neither  ready  to 
yield.  The  daughter  did,  probably  the  best  thing 
she  could  have  done  to  gain  her  point,  although 
sorely  against  her  will,  succcumbed  to  the  mala- 
rial fever  prevalent  in  the  camp,  and  so  evidently 
could  neither  remain  where  she  was,  nor  go  north 
alone  that  her  mother  took  passage  with  her  for 
Cairo.  From  this  point  Mrs.  Henshaw  takes  up 
the  story.  "Coming  North  in  the  summer  of  1863 
Mrs.  Porter  staid  a  few  weeks  at  Chicago,  taking 
her  old  place  in  the  Sanitary  rooms,  during  the 
absence  of  Mrs.  Hoge  and  Mrs.  Livermore. 
Here  for  two  weeks  she  supervised  the  prelimi- 
nary arrangement  for  the  great  Sanitary  fair.  So 
much  material  was  each  day  mailed  that  at  first 
playfully,  and  finally  in  all  seriousness  it  was  meas- 
ured in  a  half-bushel  waste  basket  that  was  in  the 
office.  Seventeen  bushels  of  mail  matter  relating 
to  the  fair,  were,  by  actual  measurement  sent  out, 
under  Mrs.  Porter's   administration. 

"She  had  been  deeply  impressed  during  her  so- 
journ, in  the  stifling  hospitals  of  the  South,  with 
\ 


180  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

the  necessity  of  northern  air  for  the  more  speedy 
recovery  of  convalescent  soldiers.  This  idea  had 
indeed  been  acted  upon  after  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg Landing,  but  the  effect  had  been,  so  to  de- 
plete the  army  that  the  plan  lost  favor.  Mrs. 
Porter  bent  her  energies  toward  its  re-adoption. 
Reasoning  that  what  one  state  did  for  its  soldiers 
would  be  done  by  the  rest,  she  addressed,  upon 
the  subject,  Senator  Howe  of  Wisconsin,  and  his 
excellency,  Edward  Salomon,  its  governor;  they 
promptly  interested  themselves  in  the  suggestion. 
"The  result  was  an  order  from  President  Lincoln, 
permitting  all  Wisconsin  soldiers  pronounced  by 
competent  authority  unfit  for  duty,  to  be  removed 
for  a  specified  time  to  northern  hospitals.  The 
poor  fellows  rejoiced  with  joy  unspeakable. 

Mrs.  Porter,  who  deeply  realized  the  weariness 
and  home  sickness  of  the  hospitals,  rejoiced  for 
their  sakes  and  also,  because  a  precedent  had  thus 
been  established.  Mrs.  Harvey,  wife  of  that 
lamented  governor  of  Wisconsin  whose  tragical 
death  had  added  deeper  gloom  to  the  scenes  at 
Pittsburg  Landing  went  to  Washington,  to  obtain 
the  order  and  to  the  South  to  see  it  faithfully 
executed.       ... 

"From  Chicago  where  Mrs.  Porter  had,  as  stated, 
taken  temporary  charge  of  the  Sanitary  rooms,  she 
returned  to  Vicksburg,  with  stores  for  the  fifteenth 


NORTH- H'T  STERN  SANITARY  COMMISSION  181 

army  corps.  Finding  en  route  that  this  corps  had 
been  ordered  to  Chattanooga,  she  followed  and 
overtook  it  at  Corinth.  The  stores  she  distributed 
came  like  a  godsend  to  the  troops  setting  out  on 
one  of  the  severest  expeditions  of  the  war.  To 
reach  Chattanooga  from  Corinth  they  traversed 
the  whole  of  Northern  Alabama.  It  was  late  in 
the  autumn;  the  roads  were  frozen  and  stony; 
marching  in  haste  their  shoes  gave  out,  they  sub- 
stituted bandages  and  continued  their  journey  with 
bare  and  bleeding  feet.  Their  clothes  grew  thread- 
bare but  they  did  not  slacken  their  haste.  Their 
commissariat  was  none  of  the  amplest,  and  the 
weary  distance  was  accomplished  upon  reduced 
rations.  In  this  condition  they  reached  Chatta- 
nooga and  hastened  into  the  fight. 

Mrs.  Porter  wrote  to  her  husband  from  Corinth 
October  iith,  1863.  .  .  "I  little  expected  when 
I  left  Chicago  last  Monday  morning  to  be  in  Cor- 
inth, to-night.  But  whatever  the  result  of  my  stay 
from  my  husband  (Mr.  P.  was  at  Vicksburg,  for 
which  point  she  had  started)  I  must  feel  that  God 
has  directed  my  steps.  I  left  Memphis  this  Sab- 
bath morning.  Nothing  but  a  clear  sense  of  duty 
could  have  induced  me  to  start  on  the  holy  day. 
God  has  preserved  me  kindly  but  they  say  my  dear 
son  and  his  company  have  not  arrived  and  com- 
pany A.  has  left.      Sherman  and   his  staff  are  ex- 


182  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

pected  this  evening.  I  am  now  in  the  Sanitary 
rooms.  .  .  There  is  great  commotion  in  town 
to-night  as  two  brigades  are  ordered  out  a  few 
miles  below,  to  meet  the  rebels  who  are  annoying 
our  troops  and  disturbing  the  railroad. 

"Monday  morning,  October  [2th.  There  are 
several  unpleasant  rumors  this  morning  but 
nothing  reliable.  Colonel  Hoge  thinks  Battery 
B.  has  not  arrived.  My  impression  is  that 
it  has  gone  to  Chattanooga  and  I  shall  not 
see  the  boys  'her  son  and  nephew  unless  I  go 
there.  .  .  October  i;th,  I  waited  Monday 
watching  for  the  coming  of  our  dear  boys;  on  that 
afternoon.  Dr.  Warriner  arrived  and  soon  after  in 
the  mud  and  rain,  it  was  announced  that  the  Illi- 
nois batteries  were  at  hand.  I  went  out  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  them,  and  saw  several  familiar  faces, 
first  among  them  our  own  dear  James.  A  smile 
of  recognition,  a  bow  and  a  glance  was  all  he  could 
give  me.  Harmon  'the  nephew^  dismounted,  to 
provide  the  men  with  bread,  and  was  at  the  door  for 
a  moment.  He  told  me  that  James  had  been  con- 
tending with  ague  all  day  in  the  mud  and  rain. 
They  moved  slowly  forward  out  two  miles  or  more 
and  I  retired  to  wait  for  the  morning,  but  my  boy  in 
chills  in  a  new  and  wet  encampment  with  the  rain 
and  high  wind  of  the  night  prevented   much  sleep. 

"In  the    morning  Col.  H.  sent   an  ambulance  to 


NORTH  WESTERN  SANITARY  COM.' 

take  me  to  the  camp,  over  a  bad  road  but  a  pleas- 
ant location  when  reached.  I  found  Capt.  Rum- 
sey's  tent  and  learned  that  James  had  left  on  foot 
for  town  a  short  time  before.  I  drove  back  and 
found  the  dear  boy  on  a  cot  in  a  deep  perspiration, 
reaction  from  a  chill,  which  took  hold  of  him  on 
his  arrival.  Dr.  \V.  ministered  to  him,  and  he- 
soon  recovered  from  it.  Harmon  came  in  and 
others  of  the  battery  this  morning.  James  felt  pretty 
well  but  about  noon  a  chill  came  on,  and  now  the 
deep  perspiration;  he  is  waiting  for  an  ambulance 
as  he  must  return  to  camp." 

If  the  soldier  son  was  "under  orders"  no  less  did 
the  mother  count  herself  to  have  given  up  the  per- 
sonal and  family  claim  for  the  needs  of  the  many 
whose  wants  could  be  so  inadequately  met  by  her 
utmost  diligence.  She  could  not  delay,  even  to  be 
near  her  suffering  son.  Mrs.  H's.  story  continues: 
"When  the  troops  to  which  at  Cornith  she  distri- 
buted her  goods,  passed  on  to  Chattanooga  Mrs. 
Porter  went  back  to  Vicksburg  and  joined  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke.  Together  they  distributed  the  com- 
mission's goods  in  hospitals  in  that  vicinity,  and 
then  by  request  of  Gen.  Sherman,  started  to  join 
the  forces  at  Chattanooga.  Their  route  took  them 
through  Cairo.  Here  Mrs.  Porter,  always  ready 
for  a  fresh  call  of  duty,  remained  for  a  month  in 
charge  of  the  Soldier's  home,  while    Miss  Ostrom, 


184  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

its  matron,  sought  rest  and  change  as  preventives 
of  impending  sickness." 

From  Cairo,  Mrs.  Porter  made  a  hasty  trip  into 
central  Illinois  to  see  Gov.  Yates  and  other  influ- 
ential persons  and  urge  upon  them  the  scheme  so 
near  to  her  heart,  Northern  hospitals  for  convales- 
cent soldiers.  After  an  absence  of  a  month  she 
rejoined  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  who,  Mrs.  Henshaw  says, 
"Wept  for  joy  at  the  sight  of  her  gentle  colleague, 
and  together  they  commenced  a  new  chapter  of 
labor  toils  and  sacrifices."  A  letter  written  by 
Mrs.  Bickerdyke  years  later  at  the  time  of  Mrs. 
P's.  golden-wedding,  gives  a  glimpse  of  those  days 
from  her  standpoint.  ..... 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Porter  who  came  to  me  in  Cairo, 
when  the  clouds  hung  so  black,  it  seems  I  can  hear 
her  cheery  words  to-day.  At  Savannah  again, 
she  came  with  her  aids,  like  an  angel  of  mercy. 
At  Memphis,  also  with  her  words  of  hope.  At 
Ringgold,  Georgia,  I  see  my  little  brown  bird  step- 
ping out  of  the  car.  Never  was  there  burden  lifted 
from  woman's  shoulder  as  that  sight  lifted  the 
burden  from  mine.  I  feel  it  even  to-day,  after 
these  years.  We  both  went  with  our  supplies  to 
the  bloody  battle  of  Resaca  arriving  there  at  sun- 
rise. As  Maj.  Woodruff,  expressed  it  when  he 
lifted  my  little  brown  bird  from  the  ambulance, 
'Never  before  was  woman  so  welcome.' 


NORTH-WESTERN  S4NIT4RY  COMMISSION  180 

"I  shall  never  forget  how  my  dear  Mrs.  Porter 
with  a  bucket  of  water  and  her  own  handkerchief 
washed  the  face  of  a  poor  bleeding  soldier  who  had 
just  received  a  terrible  shell-wound.  All  day  long 
did  that  frail  woman  with  her  little  hands  staunch 
ami  wash  the  blood  from  those  poor  wounded  sol- 
diers, whose  name  was  legion,  not  knowing  whether 
her  own  son  was  among  the  number.  I  can  never 
forget  the  terrible  scene,  when  the  smoke  was 
black  as  night  and  the  earth  vibrated  beneath  us  as 
if  an  earthquake  was  actually  shaking  the  land, 
when  her  son  darted  in  like  a  deer  exclaiming 
'Mother,  I'm  all  right!' — and  as  quickly  and  un- 
ceremoniously disappeared  amid  those  midnight 
clouds  of  battle. 

Your  ever  loving  and  far-away  friend 

Mary  A.  Bickerdyke. 

San  Francisco  June  19th,   1885." 

Many  a  soldier  lovingly  remembers  the  brown 
suit,  which  harmonized  so  well  with  the  soft  hair, 
the  bright  eyes,  and  the  peculiarly  quick  and  noise- 
less motions  which  suggested  Mrs.  Bickerdyke's 
pet  name.  One  day  when  vexed  at  some  especially 
stupid  misapprehension  of  a  direction  of  her  own, 
which  Mrs.  Porter  quietly  adjusted,  making  peace 
between  the  belligerents,  Mrs.  B.  turned  sharply 
upon  her  with  "You  mite  of  a  woman!  how  is  it 
that  you    make   everybody  mind   you,  and    every- 


186  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

body  love  you?"  Then  seeing  the  pale  face  and 
look  of  weariness,  for  standing  between  angry 
parties  exhausted  even  Mrs.  Porter's  nervous  vital- 
ity,she  added  penitently — "I'll  never  scold  anyone 
again    as    long  I  live,  when    you    are    around ;    if 

you'll  go  to  bed  now " 

So  all  through  those  weeks  this  strong  great- 
hearted woman,  on  the  one  hand  leaned  upon,  and 
on  the  other  cared  for  and  guarded  her  equally  res- 
olute but  frailer  companion.  Happily  we  have  the 
story  of  their  work  together  during  that  campaign 
from  Mrs.  Porter's  own  pen.  A  journal  published 
in  the  Sanitary  Commission  bulletin  in  New  York. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

REPORTS  MADE  TO  SANITARY  COMMISSION 

"Chattanooga,  Jan.  24th,   1864. 

uTo  the  Sanitary  Rooms,  Chicago: 

"I  arrived  at  this  place  on  New  Years' 
eve,  making  the  trip  from  Bridgeport  of  a  few 
miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  New  Years'  morning 
was  very  cold.  I  went  immediately  to  the  Field 
hospital  where  I  found  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  hard  at 
work  as  usual  endeavoring  to  comfort  the  cold,  suf- 
fering, sick  and  wounded  soldiers.  The  work  done 
on  that  day  told  wonderfully  on  their  comfort.  The 
wind  came  sweeping  around  Lookout  Mountain 
and  uniting  with  currents  from  the  valleys  of  Mis- 
sion Ridge  poured  in  upon  the  hospital  tents, 
overturning  some  and  making  the  inmates  of  all 
tremble  with  cold  and  anxious  fear.  A  great  rain 
had  preceded  adding  much  to  the  general  discom- 
fort. 

"Mrs.  Bickerdyke  went   from  tent  to  tent  in  the 

gale  carrying  hot  bricks  and   hot   drinks   to   cheer 

and  warm  the    poor   fellows.      'She  is  a   power    of 

good, '  said  one     'We   fared    mighty  poor  till  she 

187 


188  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

came  here, '  said  another.  They  fully  appreciated 
'Mother  Bickerdyke, '  as  the  soldiers  call  her. 
The  Field  hospital  of  the  15th  Army  corps  was 
situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Tennessee  river 
on  a  slope  at  the  base  of  Mission  ridge,  where  after 
the  terrible  struggle  was  over  1,700  of  our  wound- 
ed and  exhausted  soldiers  were  brought.  Mrs.  B. 
reached  there  before  the  din  and  smoke  of  battle 
were  over  and  before  all  were  brought  from  the 
field  of  blood  and  there  she  remained  the  only 
female  attendant  for  four  weeks.  Never  has  she 
rendered  more  valuable  service.  Dr.  Newberry 
had  arrived  at  Chicago  with  sanitary  stores  which 
Mrs.  B.  had  the  pleasure  of  using,  as  she  says, 
'just  when  and  where  needed. '  And  never  were 
such  goods  more  deeply  felt  to  be  good  goods. 
'What  could  we  do  without  them?'  I  often  hear 
asked  and  answered  with  a  hearty  'God  bless  the 
Sanitary  commission.'  Its  great  usefulness  is  now 
everywhere  acknowledged. 

"The  Field  hospital  was  in  a  forest,  five  miles 
from  Chattanooga.  Wood  was  abundant  and  the 
camp  was  warmed  by  immense  burning  'log-heaps, ' 
which  were  the  only  fire-places,  or  cooking  stoves 
of  the  camp  or  hospitals.  Men  were  detailed  to  fell 
the  trees  and  pile  the  logs  to  meet  the  wintry  air. 
Beside  these  fires,  Mrs.  B.  made  soup  and  toast 
tea  and  coffee,  and  without  gridiron   broiled  mut- 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  180 

ton,  often  blistering  hei\fingers  in  the  process.  A 
house  in  due  time  was  demolished  for  boards  to 
make  bunks  for  the  worst  cases.  The  brick  of  the 
chimney  was  converted  into  an  oven,  in  which 
Mrs.  B.  baked  bread  for  these  patient  sufferers. 
She  had  found  yeast  in  the  Chicago  boxes,  and 
flour  at  a  neighboring  mill  which  had  furnished 
flour  to  the  secessionists  until  now.  Great  multi- 
tudes were  fed  from  these  rude  kitchens.  Com- 
panies of  hungry  soldiers  were  refreshed  before 
these  open  fires;  and  from  these  ovens.  On  one 
occasion  a  citizen  came  and  told  the  men  to 
follow  him  and  he  would  show  them  'a  reserve' 
of  beef  and  sheep  that  had  been  provided  for 
Gen.  Bragg's  army.  The  prize  was  about  thirty 
head  of  cattle  and  twenty  sheep.  Large  potash 
kettles  were  found  which  were  used  over  the  huge 
log  fires;  and  various  kitchen  utensils  for  cooking 
were  brought  into  camp  from  time  to  time,  almost 
every  day  adding  to  our  conveniences.  After  four 
weeks  of  toil  and  labor  all  the  soldiers  that  were 
able  to  leave  were  furloughed  home  and  the  rest 
brought  to  a  large  hospital  nearer  town,  where  I 
am  now  writing. 

"About  nine  hundred  men  are  now  here,  most  of 
them  convalescents,  waiting  anxiously  to  have  the 
men  and  mules  supplied  with  food,  so  that  they 
may  have   the   benefit   of  cars    promised   to   take 


190  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

them  homeward.  Hence  there  vv^.s  great  joy  in 
the  encampment  last  week,  at  the  arrival  of  the 
first  train  of  cars  from  Bridgeport. 

"You  at  home  can  have  little  appreciation  of  the 
feelings  of  the  men  as  the  sound  greeted  their  ears. 
Our  poor  soldiers  had  been  reduced  to  half  and 
quarter  rations  for  weeks,  and  those  of  the  poor- 
est kind.  The  mules  had  fallen  by  the  wayside 
from  very  starvation — and  this  state  of  things  had 
to  continue  until  the  railroad  was  finished  to  Chat- 
tanooga, and  the  cars  could  bring  in  sustenance 
for  man  and  beast.  You  will  not  wonder  then  at 
the  hurrahs  of  men  in  the  hospitals  and  camps  as 
the  whistle  of  the  long  looked  for  train  was  heard. 
"The  most  harrowing  scenes  are  daily  witnessed 
here.  A  wife  came  on  yesterday  only  to  learn  that 
her  husband  had  died  the  morning  before.  Her 
lamentations  were  heart  breaking.  'Why  could 
he  not  have  lived  until  I  came?'  Why?  In  the 
evening  a  sister  came  whose  aged  parents  had  sent 
her  to  search  for  their  only  son.  She  also  came 
too  late.  The  brother  had  gone  to  the  soldier's 
grave  two  days  previous." 

"Near  the  Battle  Ground,  Sugar  Creek,  Ga. 
"Gen.  Logan's  Headquarters,  May  15th,   1864. 
"I  have  just  reached  this  place,  where  I  hear  the 
constant  roar  which  tells   of   battle    and  of   death. 
The  battle  has  just  commenced,  and  several  wound- 


JOURNAL   ()/    ARMY  WORK  101 

ed  have  been  brought  in  who  arc  to  be  sent  north. 
Our  batteries    are    engaged.        The    poor    pn\ 
who  are  wounded  cannot  leave  at  once. 

"Mrs.  Bickerdyke  left  on  the  ioth  for  Chatta- 
nooga. I  followed  on  Wednesday,  in  company 
with  Rev.  Drs.  Budington  and  Thompson,  N.  Y., 
agents  of  the  Christian's  commission,  sent  here  on 
a  tour  of  observation.  We  reached  Chattanooga 
yesterday  morning.  I  found  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  had 
gone  on  to  Ringgold,  and  so  I  took  the  noon  train 
and  came  down  to  Ringgold,  where  I  found  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke  in  the  Sanitary  rooms,  preparing  sup- 
plies to  take  forward  in  teams  that  were  going  in 
the  morning.  We  slept  in  a  soldier's  tent  that 
night  and  were  in  readiness  to  start  in  the  morning. 
Mrs.  Bickerdyke  had  sent  forward  the  evening  be- 
fore such  Sanitary  stores  as  could  be  taken  with 
the  teams. 

"I  wish  I  could  give  you  a  description  of  our  train 
— a  long  solemn  train  of  mule  teams:  most  of 
them  looking  as  if  dragging  heavily,  and  many 
making  a  mighty  effort  to  take  their  last  load  to 
the  scene  of  strife.  Can  you  imagine  such  a  tram 
reaching  all  the  way  from  Ringgold  to  Sugar  Creek, 
a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles?  Such  a  train  has 
almost  literally  filled  the  way  with  supplies  to  our 
army  to-day.  The  supplies  are  to  go  by  railroad 
soon,  and  the  mules  which  are  falling  on  the  right 


192  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

hand  and  on   the   left,  from    over-work,  poor  fare 
and  exhaustion,  will  be  relieved. 

"We  reached  Sugar  Creek  about  6  o'clock,  and 
were  most  kindly  received  at  Gen  Logan's  head- 
quarters, where  I  am  now  writing,  by  Gen.  Smith  and 
others  of  his  staff.  They  informed  us  that  Gen.  Lo- 
gan had  been  on  the  battlefield  since  last  evening. 
The  enemy's  guns  are  loud  and  rapid  now,  and  al- 
though I  do  not  think  we  can  go  to  the  battlefield 
to-night,  it  will  be  difficult  to  stay  away  from  it 
while  this  roar  of  artillery  continues,  knowing  that 
many  fellows  are  needing  our  care  and  attention. 

"Col. Smith  has  assured  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  that  the 
ambulance  or  anything  else  which  he  can  furnish, 
shall  be  supplied  to  aid  her  in  her  work.  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke  was  very  desirous  of  going  to  the  hos- 
pital in  the  field,  immediately  to-night,  but  it  was 
not  best.  It  is  five  miles  distant,  and  she  needs 
rest." 

"Monday,  May  17. 

"Never  have  I  passed  such  a  Sabbath  as  yester- 
day, and  I  wish  I  could  believe  there  never  would 
be  such  another.  We  arose  very  early,  after  hear- 
ing the  artillery  all  night  as  the  fight  went  on,  ter- 
rible in  its  echo,  and  terrible  not  only  to  our  ene- 
mies, but  to  many  of  our  noble  brothers,  who  have 
suddenly  fallen,  or  are  left  mutilated  to  languish 
in  extempore  hospitals  at  the  front. 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  IVORK  188 

"Gen.  Logan's  headquarters,  where  we  passed 
the  night,  are  about  four  miles  from  the  battle- 
field. The  wounded  were  brought  into  hospitals, 
quickly  and  roughly  prepared  in  the  forest,  as  near 
the  field  as  safety  would  permit.  Upon  arriving  at 
the  place  for  the  First  Division  hospital,  we  were 
met  by  the  familiar  face  of  Dr.  Woodworth  of 
Chicago,  whom  we  knew  would  do  all  in  his  power 
to  relieve  the  suffering.  What  a  scene  was  pre- 
sented! Precious  sons  of  northern  mothers,  beloved 
husbands  of  northern  wives  were  already  here  to 
undergo  amputation,  to  have  wounds  probed  and 
dressed,  or  broken  limbs  set  and  bandaged.  Some 
were  writhing  under  the  surgeon's  knife,  but  bore 
their  suffering  bravely  and  uncomplainingly.  There 
were  many  whose  wounds  were  considered  slight, 
such  as  shot  through  hand,  arm  or  leg,  which  but 
for  the  contrast  with  severer  cases,  would  seem 
dreadful.  Never  was  the  presence  of  women  more 
joyfully  welcomed.  It  was  touching  to  see  those 
precious  boys,  looking  up  into  our  faces  with  such 
hope  and  gladness.  It  brought  to  their  minds 
mother  and  home,  as  each  testified  while  his  wounds 
were  being  dressed:  'This  seems  a  little  like 
mother  about, '  was  the  reiterated  expression  of 
the  wounded,  as  one  after  another  was  washed  and 
had  his  wounds  dressed.  Mrs  Bickerdyke,  and 
myself  assisted  in  the  operation.  Poor  buys;  how 
my  heart  ached  that  I  could  do  so  little. 


194  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"After  doing  what  we  could  in  Hospital  No.  I, 
to  render  the  condition  of  the  poor  fellows  toler- 
able, we  proceeded  too  No.  2,  and  did  what  we 
could  there,  distributing  our  sanitary  comforts  in 
the  most  economical  manner,  so  as  to  make  them 
go  as  far  as  possible.  We  found  that  what  we 
brought  in  the  ambulance  was  giving  untold  com- 
fort to  our  poor  exhausted  wounded  men,  whose 
rough  hospital  couches  were  made  by  pine  boughs 
with  the  stems  cut  out,  spread  upon  the  ground, 
over  which  their  blankets  were  thrown.  This 
forms  the  bed,  and  the  poor  fellows'  blouses,  satur- 
ated with  their  own  blood,  are  their  only  pillows, 
their  knapsacks  being  left  behind  when  they  went 
into  battle.  More  sanitary  goods  are  on  the  way, 
and  will  be  brought  to  relieve  the  men  as  soon  as 
possible. 

"Now  all  the  supplies  of  this  immense  army  are 
brought  from  Ringgold  by  teams,  and  food  for  the 
army  must  be  forwarded  first.  I  have  seen  no  bread 
for  several  days  but  army  hardtack.  The  boys 
think  it  good,  and  so  it  is  to  the  hungry  men, 
when  cooked  in  soups  and  panada. 

"We  found  in  the  Third  and  Fourth  hospitals 
much  the  same  condition  of  things;  all  doing  what 
they  could  to  perfect  the  hospital  arrangements 
and  extemporizing  kitchen  tents  and  beds  by  the 
hundred,  all  made  as  I  have  described. 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  LOO 

"The  young  surgeons  are  most  of  them  doing 
themselves  great  credit  by  their  attention  to  the 
suffering.  I  have  seen  as  yet  but  few  except  yonng 
men  in  the  hospitals.      There   are  some   venerable 

workers,  who  should  have   the   grateful    thanks  of 
the  nation  for  their  devotion  to  the  suffering. 

"This  evening  we  were  cheered  by  the  arrival  of 
the  sanitary  goods,  which  were  loaded  at  Ring- 
gold, under  Mrs.  Bickerdyke's  direction.  They 
are  the  only  sanitary  goods  here,  expect  the  deli- 
cacies brought  by  us  in  the  ambulance,  which  was 
sent  us  direct  from  Chicago.  From  them  every 
wounded  man  had  not  only  a  cooling  draught 
of  lemonade,  but  many  other  comforts  which 
seemed  to  be  just  what  was  needed,  and  which 
have  called  forth  repeated  blessings  upon  the  Sani- 
tary Commission.  Last  night  there  was  sharp 
fighting  again,  if  the  constant  roar  of  heavy  artil- 
lery tells  truly.  Our  tent  was  spread  near  the 
wounded  and  the  dying,  and  was  filled  with  bar- 
rels of  lemons,  pickles  and  various  other  articles 
of  comfort.  Our  bed  was  composed  of  dry  leaves, 
spread  with  a  rubber  and  soldier's  blanket — our 
own  blankets,  with  pillows  and  all,  having  been 
given  out  to  sufferers  long  before  night.  Our 
tent  is  located  about  two  miles  from  seat  of  action, 
and  every  discharge  is  distinctly  heard.  This  morn- 
ing report  says  the  enemy  are  going  toward  Atlanta. 


196  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"Several  wounded  men  have  died  during  the 
night.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  and  myself  are  going  out 
to  look  after  another  division  of  wounded  men. 
Mr.  Tome,  of  the  Sanitary  commission,  has  just 
arrived,  to  make  some  arrangements  for  getting 
forward  the  supplies  which  are  now  so  much  need- 
ed, and  will  be  demanded  yet  more  in  a  day  or 
two." 

"May  19th. 

"I  wrote  the  above  two  days  since,  and  have  had 
no  more  time  to  write  until  now.  But  since  then 
I  have  passed  through  thrilling  scenes,  and  have 
witnessed  many  deaths,  which  have  left  fond  wives 
in  widowhood  and  made  many  children  fatherless, 
who  had  looked  forward  to  July  with  fond  hopes. 
'Then  father's  time  in  the  army  will  be  out,  and 
we  will  be  so  glad. ' 

"Yesterday  there  was  a  sanitary  agent  here,  Mr. 
Tome,  and  we  received  from  him  a  few  articles  such 
as  crackers,  canned  milk,  bandages,  and  a  few  bottles 
of  raspberry  vinegar,  all  so  very  acceptable  to  our 
suffering  patients,  four  of  whom  have  passed  be- 
yond our  care,  and  already  lie  in  the  newly  opened 
burying  place.  Yesterday,  Mr.  Smith  of  the  Chris- 
tian Commission  at  Nashville  was  here,  and  Mr. 
Lawrence  from  Chattanooga.  With  his  usual 
carefulness  for  the  comfort  of  others,  he  left  with 
us  his  rubber   and   woolen   blankets,  which,  as  we 


JOURNAL  Oh  ARMY  WORK  19? 

put  our  last  piece  of  bedding  under  the  wounded 
men,  were  gratefully  received.  He  has  gone  fur 
more  supplies.  When  he  returns,  we  hope  the 
wants  of  our  boys  will  be  met. 

"You  cannot  imagine  the  condition  of  our  wound- 
ed men  who  have  had  no  change  of  clothing. 
Think  of  a  wounded  man  lying  in  a  shirt  saturated 
with  blood,  and  wearing  it  until  it  becomes  dry  and 
hard,  his  blanket  in  the  same  condition,  and  he 
lying  on  the  ground  without  pillow,  except  his 
knapsack.  We  brought  several  pillows,  and  when  I 
put  one  of  them  under  the  head  of  a  great  sufferer, 
he  said,  'Oh,  that  is  so  soft.'  As  I  passed  along, 
yesterday,  one  of  the  boys  looked  up  imploringly, 
and  said,  'Oh,  my  bed  is  hard.'  I  had  just  taken 
a  pillow  from  the  bed  of  a  man  just  dead  and  laid 
it  out  to  dry,  I  asked,  'Shall  I  bring  that3'  'Yes,* 
he  said,  and  when  I  brought  it,  stained  with  his 
comrade's  blood,  and  laid  his  weary  aching  head 
upon  it,  he  replied,  'Oh,  that  is  such  a  relief!' 
"  We  know  there  are  sanitary  stores  in  abundance, 
and  that  they  are  on  the  way,  and  we  also  realize 
the  difficulty  of  getting  anything  to  us,  in  our  remote 
locality,  so  far  from  the  railroad,  where  everything 
must  be  brought  by  teams.  We  are  hourly  expect- 
ing sanitary  goods,  which  will  furnish  the  1 
with  comforts  that  mothers,  wives  and  sisters  have 

prepared. 


198  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"Mrs.  Bickerdyke  has  succeeded  in  bringing  about 
a  little  more  order  to-day  in  feeding  these  three 
hundred  men.  The  painful  work  has  commenced  of 
removing  these  men  to  Resaca,  about  three  miles 
from  the  place  where  they  were  first  received.  This 
arrangement  is  deemed  best,  as  it  brings  them  at 
once  upon  the  railroad,  where  they  can  be  sent 
North  at  some  time,  and  I  am  told  that  most  are 
to  be  sent  North  as  soon  as  practicable.  No  one 
who  has  not  seen  the  immediate  effects  of  a  battle 
can  have  any  idea  of  its  horrors.  I  am  daily  grate- 
ful to  God  for  having  raised  up  and  strengthened 
for  the  work  of  comforting  the  wounded  'Mother 
Bickerdyke, '  as  the  soldiers  truly  call  her.  She 
has  followed  them  with  a  mother's  self-sacrificing 
devotion,  and  the  high  patriotism  and  benevolence 
which  exist  in  her  nature.  She  never  fails  in  the 
time  of  the  soldier's  necessity,  no  matter  what  that 
necessity  may  be.  Like  a  true  mother  she  is  ready 
for  it.  She  is  ready  to  contend  for  his  right,  as 
many  in  authority  have  been  made  to  feel,  and 
she  is  sustained  in  labors  which  seem  supernatural. 
I  hope  mothers,  wives  and  sisters  will  appreciate 
her  service,  and  give  to  her  dear  fatherless  boys 
aid  when  needed,  as  she  has  rendered  it  to  theirs. 
"To-day  every  kettle  which  could  be  raised  has 
been  used  in  making  coffee.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  has 
made  barrel   after    barrel,  and   it   is  a   comfort  to 


JOURNAL  OH  ARMY  WORK  1 '.''.< 

know  that  multitudes  are  reached  and  cheered, 
a\\(\  saved.  Two  hundred  and  sixty  slightly  woun- 
ded men  just  came  to  this  point  on  the  cars  on 
their  way  North,  all  hungry  and  weary,  saying, 
' We  are  so  thirsty!'  'Do  give  us  something  t«» 
cat!'  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  was  engaged  in  giving  out 
supper  to  the  three  hundred  in  wards  here,  and 
told  them  she  could  not  feed  them  then.  They 
turned  away  in  sorrow  and  were  leaving,  when 
learning  who  they  were — wounded  men  of  the  20th 
Army  corps— and  their  necessity,  she  told  them 
to  wait  a  few  minutes,  she  would  attend  to  them. 
She  gave  them  coffee,  kraut,  and  potato  pickles, 
which  are  never  eaten  but  by  famished  men,  and 
for  once  they  were  a  luxury.  I  stood  in  the  room 
where  our  supplies  were  deposited,  giving  to  some 
crackers,  to  some  pickles,  and  to  each  hungry  man 
something. 

"One  of  the  green  cards  that  come  on  all  the 
stores  of  the  Northwestern  commission  Mrs.  Bick- 
erdyke had  tacked  upon  the  wall,  and  this  told  the 
inquirers  from  what  branch  of  the  commission  the 
supplies  were  obtained.  They  were  mostly  from 
New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  and  most 
grateful  recipients  were  they  of  the  generosity  of 
the  Northwest. 

"You  can  imagine  the  effort  made  to  supply  two 
barrels    of    coffee,   with    only    three    camp    kettles, 


200  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

two  iron  boilers,  holding  two  pailfuls,  one  small 
iron  tea-kettle,  and  one  saucepan  to  make  it  in. 
These  all  placed  over  a  dry  rail  fire,  were  boiled  in 
double  quick  time,  and  were  filled  and  refilled  till 
all  had  a  portion.  Chicago  canned  milk  never  gave 
more  comfort  than  on  this  occasion,  I  assure  you. 
Our  cooking  conveniences  are  much  the  same  as 
at  Missionary  Ridge,  but  there  is  to  be  a  change 
soon.  The  Medical  Director  informs  me  that  this 
is  to  be  a  recovering  hospital,  and  a  cooking  appa- 
ratus will  soon  be  provided." 

"Field  Hospital,  Resaca,  Ga.,  May  20th. 

"All  convalescents  are  this  morning  ordered  from 
this  hospital.  Mrs.  B.  and  myself  feel,  that  we 
must  leave  these  now  comparatively  provided  for, 
and  hasten  to  the  front,  to  those  who  are  in  the 
condition  in  which  we  found  these.  Many  of  the 
wounded  are  doing  well.  All  who  will  recover 
are  improving.  Yesterday  we  received  from  the 
government,  tents,  cots,  and  other  comforts  for  the 
relief  of  our  wounded,  who  have  been  lying  on  the 
ground,  though  bunks  have  been  prepared  for 
many. 

"Mrs.  Bickerdyke  is  among  the  wounded,  and  is 
doing  good  as  she  has  opportunity.  Last  night 
as  I  slept  in  my  tent  surrounded  by  the  wounded  1 
was  wakened  by  dreadful  cries  and  groans  as  if  of 
one  in    distress.      It    continued    seeming   like   the 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  :    I 

death  agonies  of  a  strong  man.      My  first   impulse 

was  to  go  to  him  but  that  I  could  not  do.  At 
length  the  groans  ceased,  and  when  I  inquired  of 
our  surgeon,  from  whose  tent  they  proceeded,  he 
said  it  was  a  wounded  rebel  prisoner,  who  died  in 
the  night.  The  rebel  wounded  bear  their  suffer- 
ings less  bravely  than  our  men." 

"Kingston,  Ga. ,  May  23rd. 
"Yesterday  morning  we  arrived  at  Kingston,  sleep- 
ing in  cars,  and  accompanied  by  officers,  and  a 
minister  sent  by  the  Christian  Commission.  The 
cars  were  filled  with  sacks  of  corn  upon  which  we 
rested.  We  reached  here  and  took  breakfast  with 
agents  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions. 
There  is  great  hurrying  to  and  fro,  for  an  order  has 
been  issued  for  a  forward  move  to-morrow,  and 
all  are  making  preparations.  Rations  for  twenty 
days  are  ordered.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  took  an  ambu- 
lance and  rode  out  to  Gen.  McPherson's  head- 
quarters, to  learn  from  him  what  we  should  plan  to 
do.  The  General  encouraged  our  going  forward,  by 
assuring  us  that  transportation  should  be  furnished 
for  sanitary  goods.  On  the  matter  of  transporta- 
tion, Col.  Smith,  or  rather  the  Quartermaster  of 
the  corps,  informed  usth;it  the  best  ambulance  and 
driver  should  be  at  our  command,  if  we  would  go 
forward,  and  that  our  services  were  appreciated  so 
highly  that  everything  should   be  done  to  facilitate 


202  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

and  aid  us  in  our  work.  From  other  officers  we 
received  the  same  assurance.  We  took  out  a  few 
comforts  to  the  batteries,  and  found  them  in  re- 
markable health  and  spirits,  considering  the  strug- 
gle through  which  they  had  passed. 

"May  23rd. 
"Sanitary  agents  have  issued  several  tons  of  veg- 
etables and  other  sanitary  goods  to-day,  to  the 
different  divisions  of  this  great  army.  Mrs.  Bick- 
erdyke  has  received  this  morning  a  large  supply 
for  our  use  among  the  wounded,  which  are  to  be 
sent  forward  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  next  con- 
test, which  is  no  doubt  near  at  hand.  The  In- 
diana agent  sent  us  supplies  at  Resaca  which  have 
been  reserved  for  the  coming  want.  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke  was  greeted  on  the  street  by  a  soldier  on 
horseback;  'Mother, '  said  he, 'is  that  you?  Don't 
you  remember  me?  I  was  in  the  hospital,  my  arm 
amputated,  and  I  was  saved  by  your  kindness.  I 
am  so  glad  to  see  you, '  giving  her  a  beautiful  bo- 
quet  of  roses,  the  only  token  of  grateful  remem- 
brance he  could  command.  Mrs.  B.  daily  receives 
such  greetings  from  men,  who  say  they  have  been 
saved  from  death  by  her  efforts.  The  blessing  of 
many  ready  to  perish  is  no  small  reward,  and  it  is 
hers  in  overflowing  measure." 

"May  24th. 
"Last  evening  two  or  three  hundred   exhausted 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  IVORK 

men  were  sent  here  faint  and  weary.  Mrs.  B. 
and  myself  tried  with  what  means  we  had,  to  meet 
their  necessities.  Mrs.  B.  made  them  coffee,  and 
we  gave  them  pickles  and  other  food,  which  re- 
freshed them  greatly.  They  felt  that  if  they  could 
rest  and  have  enough  to  eat,  such  as  they  needed, 
they  would  soon  be  able  to  do  duty.  This  morn- 
ing the  surgeon  of  a  hospital  called  to  ask  that  we 
would  go  and  help  him  in  his  work,  which  we 
promised  to  do. 

"About  an  hour  ago  a  great  excitement  prevailed, 
as  it  was  said  the  rebels  were  coming  upon  us  with 
a  dash.  Such  a  stampede  among  the  stragglers, 
and  so  many  pale  faces  I  have  not  before  seen. 
We  were  having  our  boxes  shipped  for  Resaca. 
Hastened  by  the  fright  most  of  them  were  shipped, 
but  four  or  five  valuable  packages  remain,  and  we 
design  to  get  them  off  as  soon  as  possible,  as  it  is 
thought  guerrillas  will  make  another  attempt  here." 

"Field  Hospital,  under  care  of  Dr.  Wright,  May 
25th. 

"Yesterday  as  the  trains  were  passing  about  four 
miles  from  here,  they  were  attacked  by  our  ene- 
mies. Four  soldiers  who  had  dismounted  were 
killed,  first  slightly  wounded,  then  evidently  knock- 
ed on  the  head  with  a  gun  or  club.  That  was  the 
surgeon's  testimony,  and  the  most  inexperience. 1 
observer  would  come  to  the  same  conclusion,  who 


204  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

looked  upon  their  bruised,  broken  faces.  What 
exhibitions  do  we  daily  receive  of  the  chivalry  of 
our  high-minded  southern  foes?  Could  Satan  him- 
self give  stronger  proofs  of  his  love  of  evil  than 
these  devoted  servants  of  their  master? 

"Last  evening,  having  seen  most  of  our  sanitary 
goods  on  the  cars,  I  left  the  town,  which  it  was 
thought  might  be  filled  with  rebels  to-day,  and 
came  to  this  field-hospital.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  had 
taken  a  few  articles  and  gone  up  in  the  morning, 
with  men  and  women  to  clean  and  put  things  in 
order  to  feed  and  comfort  the  sad,  exhausted  and 
wounded  soldiers.  I  found  the  house  filled  with 
such  already.  The  beautiful,  but  filthy  premises, 
under  her  direction  had  been  made  comfortably 
clean,  and  now  the  floors  were  covered  with  soldiers 
resting  their  weary  heads  on  knapsacks  or  blouses, 
many  of  them  without  blankets  even.  On  the 
march  they  have  thrown  everything  away,  because 
they  are  so  burdened.  They  often  start  with  very 
heavy  burdens,  unwilling  to  give  up  any  of  the  lit- 
tle comforts  they  have  gathered  about  them,  but 
as  the  heat  increases  and  the  soldiers  become 
weary,  one  thing  after  another  is  thrown  away, 
until  only  their  knapsacks  which  contain  their  ra- 
tions and  their  cups  remain. 

"The  failing  and  faint-hearted  are  constantly  com- 
ing in.      They   report   themselves   sick,  and  a  few 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  M 

days  of  rest  and  nourishing  will  restore  most  of 
them,  but  some  have  made  their  last  march,  and 
will  soon  be  laid  in  a  soldier's  grave;  Mrs;  R. 
has  sent  gruel  and  other  food,  which  I  have  been 
distributing  according  to  the  wants  of  the  pros- 
trate multitude,  all  on  the  floor.  Some  are  very 
sick  men;  it  is  a  pleasure  to  do  something  for 
them.  They  are  all  dear  to  some  circle,  and  are 
a  noble  company.  Two  hundred  are  gathered 
here.  Sanitary  goods  are  our  dependence  in  tak- 
ing care  of  them.  We  have  received  liberally 
from  the  Western  Commission,  and  some  very  valu- 
able articles  from  the  Christian  Commission,  and 
have  made  them  tell  upon  the  comfort  of  those 
ready  to  perish.  How  often  do  I  hear  the  remark, 
'What  should  we  have  done  but  for  the  Sanitary 
commission?'  We  suffer  the  greatest  inconven- 
ience from  the  want  of  cooking  utensils.  It  is  very 
hard  to  provide  food  for  so  many  hundreds,  with- 
out any  other  convenience  than  out-door  fire,  under 
the  heat  of  a  summer  sun.  A  tent  does  not  ex- 
clude this  heat.  Soup  kettles  and  large  ranges 
would  diminish  the  labor,  and  add  greatly  to  our 
ability  to  be  useful.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  applied  to 
Louisville  for  such  aid,  knowing  by  experience  the 
hard  service  which  must  be  required,  but  they  have 
not  come,  probably  on  account  of  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  transportation,  and  she  will  toil  on  without 


206  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

them    until  her  strong  constitution  is  undermined, 
I  fear. 

"Wednesday. 

"Heavy  firing  was  heard  in  front  yesterday.  To- 
day three  hundred  and  twelve  men  have  been  fed 
and  comforted  here.  This  morning  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke  made  mush  for  two  hundred,  having  gathered 
up  in  various  places  kettles,  so  that  by  great  effort 
out  of  doors  she  can  cook  something.  Potatoes, 
received  from  Iowa,  and  dried  fruit  and  canned, 
have  been  distributed  among  the  men.  Many  of 
them  are  from  Iowa.  'What  could  we  do  with- 
out these  stores?'  is  the  constant  inquiry. 

"May  26th. 

"I  have  visited  the  deserted  hospitals  near  us, 
erected  after  Chattanooga  was  shelled  by  our 
troops,  as  I  was  informed  by  a  lady  who  lives  near. 
They  are  of  sufficient  size  to  accomodate  one  thou- 
sand sick  and  wounded,  are  built  according  to 
the  directions  of  their  Medical  Board,  and  are  al- 
together the  best  arrangements  for  a  temporary 
hospital  which  I  have  seen,  nothing  wanting  for 
convenience  or  comfort,  and  the  location  one  of 
the  best  that  could  have  been  chosen.  The  rebels 
know  how  to  take  care  of  themselves.  They  were 
hurried  out  of  the  hospitals  last  week,  and  as  they 
evacuated  took  their  sick  with  them.  The  place 
we  occupy  is  by  no  means   as   convenient,  this  be- 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  SO? 

ing  a  private  residence  merely.  But  the  plan  is  to 
send  our  men  North,  if  they  cannot  go  forward. 
Hundreds  have  already  gone,  and  multitudes  are 
on  the  way.  A  company  of  poor  white  women 
came  to  see  us  this  morning  who  said,  'Georgia 
never  went  out  of  the  union  of  her  own  free  will, 
but  she  could  not  help  herself.'  They  say,  'Our 
children  are  to  be  bound  out  to  the  planters,  and 
we  put  into  the  hospitals  to  do  the  work,  and  thus 
be  separated  from  our  children;  we  know  they'll 
do  it  if  they  can.  The  ladies  say  that  they  will 
have  our  children  for  servants  if  they  can't  get  the 
niggers,  and  they  will  ' 

"May  27th. 

"Andrew  Somerville,  a  faithful  soldier, who  went 
down  to  Resaca  with  our  sanitary  goods,  after 
having  put  them  into  Mr.  Jones'  the  agent's  hands, 
was  overpowered  by  a  band  of  drunken  soldiers, 
who  were  on  a  wild  robbing  expedition.  They  took 
some  things  after  having  knocked  him  down.  A 
guard  was  called  and  military  power  exerted  to 
arrest  them.  A  telegram  from  Rome  asking  for 
Sanitary  goods.  I  shall  go  to  Resaca  for  them  as 
the  wounded  are  suffering. 

"May  28th. 

"There  is  heavy  firing  in  the  direction  of  Rome. 
I  concluded  to  telegraph  to  Resaca  and  wait  until 
to-day.      Everything    indicates    the     necessity   of 


208  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

comforts  for  the  wounded.     There  is  a  sharp  fight 
going  on  to  protect  a  gap  in  the  mountains. 

"May  29th. 

"Last  evening,  in  view  of  the  wants  of  the  wound- 
ed who  were  reported  coming  in  to  be  sent  for- 
ward, I  went  to  Resaca  to  get  supplies,  and  re- 
turned this  morning.  To-day  we  hear  of  dreadful 
slaughter  and  suffering,  and  we  are  told  that  a  train 
of  ambulances  is  on  its  way  to  this  point  with  the 
wounded.  The  colonel  of  the  83rd  Ohio  regiment 
ran  into  our  room  to  ask  for  supplies  to  go  to  his 
regiment;  Dr.  Everett  of  the  10th  Iowa  also.  We 
shall  give  them  all  we  can  spare.  But,  if  our  sup- 
plies were  increased  four-fold,  we  could  easily  use 
them." 

In  another  letter,  dated  Kingston,  Ga.,  June 
1st,  Mrs.  Porter  says:  "We  have  received,  fed,  and 
comforted  at  this  hospital,  during  the  past  week, 
between  4,000  and  5,000  men,  and  still  they  come. 
Our  sanitary  stores  are  just  what  we  need,  and  to- 
day we  have  received  a  quantity  from  Resaca,  and 
a  telegram  from  Mr.  Read,  United  States  Sanitary 
agent  at  Chattanooga,  requesting  us  to  draw  upon 
that  depot  for  anything  we  need,  which  we  shall 
be  glad  to  do.  All  the  food  and  clothing  have 
passed  under  our  supervision,  and,  indeed,  almost 
every  garment  has  been  given  out  by  our  hands. 
Almost  every  article  of  special  diet  has  been  cooked 


JOURNAL  OF  ARMY  WORK  100 

by  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  personally,   and  all  has  been 

superintended  by  her.  I  speak  of  this  particularly, 
as  it  is  a  wonderful  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  "As 
thy  days,  so  shall  thy  strength  be." 

Again,  writing  from  Altoona,  Ga.,  June  14th: 
"I  have  just  visited  a  tent  filled  with  'amputated 
cases,'  they  are  noble  young  men,  the  pride  and 
hope  of  loving  families  of  the  North,  but  most  of 
them  are  so  low  that  they  will  never  again  return 
to  them.  Each  had  a  special  request  for  'some- 
thing that  he  could  relish.'  I  made  my  way 
quickly  down  from  the  heights,  where  the  hospital 
tents  are  pitched,  and  sought  for  the  food  they 
craved.  I  found  it  among  the  goods  of  the  Sani- 
tary commission — and  now  the  dried  currants, 
cherries,  and  other  fruits  are  stewing;  we  have 
unsoldered  cans  containing  condensed  milk  and 
preserved  fruit — and  the  poor  fellows  will  not  be 
disappointed  in  their  expectations." 


CHAPTER  XV 

ARMY  WORK.       CONTINUED 

A  few  words  in  addition  from  Mrs.  Henshaw. 
"Mrs.  Bickerdyke  took  charge  of  the  diet  cooking. 
Mrs.  Porter,  of  the  distribution  of  supplies. 
'It  is  too  muddy  for  you  to  come  to  the  kitchen  to- 
day, '  was  often  the  message  of  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  to 
Mrs.  Porter,  accompanied  by  her  breakfast.  The 
habit  observed  by  Mrs.  Porter  during  this  time  of 
•starvation  rations'  should  here  be  told — she  ate 
of  those  breakfasts  as  little  as  possible,  and  when 
the  first  squad  of  men  went  by,  selecting  the  palest 
and  hungriest  looking  she  slipped  the  few  morsels 
into  his  hand.  Every  day  from  every  meal 
she  thus  saved  a  part  of  her  own  rations 
and  gave  to  the  man  who  looked  the  feeblest. 
Sometimes  the  poor  fellows,  driven  by  their 
extremity  of  hunger,  crept  up  stealthily  and 
with  shamed  faces,  to  search  among  the  refuse  of 
that  economical  kitchen.  Then  those  two  women 
always  turned  their  heads  and  were  too  busy  to 
notice.      Mrs.  Porter,  had  another  touching  habit. 

When,  in  the  hospitals  any  one  under  her  care  was 

210 


ARMY  WORK,     CONTINUED  211 

approaching  death,  she  placed  in  his  hand  a  cl 
handkerchief  or  something  similar  that  she  might 
save  it  to  send  to  his  family  as  his  last  memento. 
Meeting  at  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain  on  the 
New  Year  of  1864,  they  remained  together  at 
Chattanooga  until  March  when  they  advanced  with 
some  of  the  troops  to  Huntsville.  There  they  had 
charge  of  a  large  hospital;  but  finding  how  press- 
ing was  the  need  of  anti  scorbutics  they  addressed 
themselves  to  the  work  of  camp  distribution;  com- 
ing north  to  Nashville  they  returned  with  large 
amounts  of  vegetables  which  they  divided  among 
many  regiments.  The  records  of  the  commission 
abound  with  certificates  from  different  military  or- 
ganization of  their  fidelity  and  efficiency.  Mr.  Porter 
was  relieved  from  hospital  service  at  Vicksburg  early 
in  the  year  and  joined  the  15th,  Army  corps  at 
N  -hville.  He  soon  after  found  his  wife  at  Big 
Shanty  and  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign 
was  near  where  Mrs.  Bickerdyke,  and  she  were  at 
work.  Of  their  experience  in  this  department  Mr. 
Porter  says: 

"By  a  very  marked  providence  Mrs.  Porter 
and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  had  secured  sanitary  sup- 
plies for  these  hospitals  before  any  others  had 
reached  them.  In  view  of  the  anticipated 
deadly  battles  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  ammu- 
nition to  the  soldier's  beyond    the   then    terminus 


212  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

of  the  railroad,  with  the  absolutely  necessary  food 
for  men  and  beasts,  Gen.  Sherman  had  left  orders 
at  Nashville,  that  no  Sanitary  stores  should  be  for- 
warded until  the  army  supplies  had  all  been  sent, 
and  that  no  nurses  or  ladies  be  permitted  to  follow 
the  army  at  present.  Notwithstanding  this  head- 
quarter's  order  Mrs.  B.  determined  to  go  in  some 
way,  but  Mrs.  Porter  decided  to  wait  for  more  light 
as  to  her  duty ;  she  had  won  her  way  by  most  careful 
avoidence  of  contending  against  army  regulations, 
she  would  not  defy  them  now.  Mrs.  B.  went  to 
the  terminus  of  the  railroad  and  begged  the  master 
of  transportation  for  one  team  at  least  to  take  to 
the  marching  army  her  Sanitary  stores.  This  he 
could  not  give  but  he  promised  to  add  one  of  her 
boxes  or  barrels  to  each  of  his  loads.  The  next 
day,  in  her  perplexity,  Mrs.  Porter  examined  her 
former  pass  and  found  it  to  read: 

Office  Provost  Marshal   Generals, 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  March,  18th,  1864. 

"Guards, pickets  and  military  authorities  generally 
will  pass  and  repass  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter,  agent 
of  the  United  States  Sanitary  commission,  to  and 
from  all  points  of  this  (Mississippi)  military  di- 
vision. Military  railroads  and  chartered  steamers 
in  government  employ  will  at  any  time  furnish  her 
free  transportation  upon   application.     This  pass 


ARMY  IVORK.     CONTINUED 

to  remain    in    full    force   until    countermanded    at 
these  headquarters. 

By  order  of  Lieut.  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant. 

W.  R.  Rowley, 
Major  and  Provost  Marshal  General. 

"This  certainly  had  not  been  rescinded! — she 
took  it  to  the  railroad  office  and  it  was  unchalleng- 
ed— on  its  authority  Mrs.  P.  at  once  proceeded  and 
found  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  with  the  transportation  of 
stores  secured  as  stated  above.  An  ambulance 
had  just  arrived  from  the  battlefield  bringing  a 
wounded  officer  to  take  the  cars  for  the  north. 
This  ambulance  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
two  ladies.  Filling  it  with  delicacies  and  stimu- 
lants, with  a  driver  who  knew  them  they  started 
at  once  with  their  precious  load. 

"The  Fourth  of  July  we  spent  in  Marietta,  on 
the  22nd  of  that  month  Gen.  McPherson  was  killed. 
On  that  very  day  occurred  an  event  of  great  inter- 
est to  our  family.  It  was  this — News  had  come 
to  us  that  Battery  B.,  Chicago  Light  artillery,  had 
been  captured  while  approaching  Atlanta,  that 
some  of  its  officers  had  been  killed,  some  were 
prisoners,  and  that  one  of  the  batteries  of  heavy 
artillery  had  been  taken.  Mrs.  Porter  and  Mrs. 
Bickerdyke  on  hearing  this  sad  news,  at  once  took 
an  ambulance  and  drove  to  the  hospital  nearest 
the   scene   of   battle,  but   on   approaching  it  were 


214  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

warned  of  the  danger  of  coming  near,  as  the 
enemy  were  aiming  their  shells  at  that  point.  My 
eldest  son  and  a  very  dear  nephew  were  in  Battery 
B.  Hoping  to  find  our  own  boys  still  safe  the 
ladies  had  gone  to  carry  comforts  to  the  survivors 
while  I  remained  with  the  sick  at  Marietta.  They 
left  me  on  Friday  and  on  Sunday  not  having  heard 
a  word  from  the  battery  I  took  for  my  text  the 
question  of  David,  twice  repeated  in  II  Samuel: 
'Is  the  young  man  Absalom  safe?'  .  .  In  the 
evening  of  that  day  as  I  was  passing  among  the 
men  in  our  tent  hospital,  the  clerk  of  the  same 
called  to  me,  'Chaplain,  I  have  word  for 
you.'  .  .  It  was  a  long  business  envelope 
sealed — on  the  outside  of  it  was  written:  'Dear 
Chaplain,  James  is  safe.  He  thumbed  the  gun 
after  the  gunners  had  fallen  wounded  by  his  side 
and  it  was  once  more  discharged,  then  stooped  to 
do  something  for  the  fallen  lieutenant.  At  once  he 
heard  the  cry  'surrender. '  Lying  by  the  side  of  his 
dead  friend,  he  chose  to  appear  dead  and  so  was 
declared  by  those  who  rushed  by  him,  until  our 
troops  retook  the  battery.  He  had  command  of 
the  same  that  afternoon,  all  speak  of  his  bravery. 
Yours, 

J.  W.  Woodworth.  ' 
"This  dear  friend  was  the  assistant  surgeon  of  the 
regiment.      .       .      Mrs.  Porter  had  earlier   learned 


ARMY  WORK.     CONTINUED  210 

of  our  son's  safety  than  I  had,  but  she  had  watched 
through  many  anxious  hours  for  tidings." 

When  Sherman  after  the  decisive  battle  of 
Atlanta — began  his  march  to  the  sea,  Mrs.  Porter 
came  to  Chicago  with  her  husband. 

The  five  confederate  officers  and  twenty-seven 
confederate  privates  whom  she  had  attended  in  the 
hospital  as  wounded  prisoners,  hearing  that  she 
was  to  leave  for  the  North  and  fearing  she  might 
meet  with  annoyance  or  peril  from  the  Southern 
soldiery,  each  gave  her  a  letter  of  commendation 
to  their  own  army  asking  of  it  kind  and  generous 
treatment  if,  by  the  casualties  of  war,  she  should 
fall  into  their  hands;  and  expressed  in  the  warm- 
est way  their  sense  of  obligation  to  the  friend  who 
had  done  so  much  to  alleviate  their  distress.  Hap- 
pily Mrs.  P.  had  no  opportunity  to  present  the 
letters  to  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  but 
a  few  months  later  Miss  Dix  was  very  glad  of  them 
to  aid  in  refuting  the  charge  of  cruelty  in  treat- 
ment of  prisoners  in  our  hospitals.  During  the 
few  weeks  spent  at  the  North,  Mrs.  P.  made  visits 
among  her  friends,  did  much  to  get  contributions 
for  the  needs  of  the  soldiers,  and  in  October  was 
present  with  all  her  family,  except  the  eldest,  who 
was  with  the  army,  at  the  marriage  of  her  second 
son  in  Beloit,  Wisconsin. 

About    this    time     murmurs     were     heard    con- 


216  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

cerning  the  destitution  in  the  hospitals  down 
the  Mississippi  river;  the  Northern  Western 
commission  hastened  to  ship  stores  in  that 
direction  and  to  send  an  agent  on  a  tour  of 
observation  extending  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas 
and  the  intermediate  points.  Mrs.  Porter  was 
selected  for  this  service.  A  letter  written  on  the 
gunboat  as  she  was  returning  to  Cairo,  to  her 
son,  then  lieutenant  in  a  battery  of  colored  soldiers 
stationed  at  Helena,  will  show  how  rapidly  and 
with  how  little  consideration  for  personal  comfort 
this  task  was  carried  through. 

"I  cannot  tell  how  much  I  regretted  passing  you 
in  the  night,  am  almost  ready  to  take  a  trip  back 
to  Helena  to  see  you,  but  I  must  deny  myself  and 
take  another  boat  for  Cairo.  Our  Father  has  kind- 
ly watched  over  me  and  carried  me  safely  through 
to  Little  Rock  and  Duvall's  Bluff,  and  now  I  am 
about  to  leave  this  gunboat  which  brought  a  bri- 
gade up  the  river  which  disembarks  here. 
Mother's  thoughts  are  much  with  you.  I  leave  you 
with  Him  who  will  never  forsake.  If  you  cling  to 
Him  you  are  safe.  How  is  dear  H — — ?  Give 
much  love  to  him  and  tell  him  to  watch  and  pray, 
that  he  may,  with  those  we  love,  be  brought 
through  this  terrible  war,  having  preserved  his 
manhood  and  able  to  sustain  and  maintain  those 
principles   for  which  you   suffer   the  'Loss   of   all 


ARMY  WORK.     CONTINUED 

things;"  and  without    which   a   republican    govern- 
ment cannot  stand   What  cause  we  have  for  hope! 

What  time  we  are  afraid  we  will  trust  in  the  Lord 
and  stay  ourselves  on  everlasting  strength.91 
To  return  to  Mrs.  Henshaw's  narrative: 
"The  holidays  drew  on  amid  general  rejoicings. 
Gen.  Sherman  had  been  heard  from.  His  march 
to  the  sea  was  a  triumph.  Savannah  lay  at  his 
feet.  Upon  the  receipt  of  this  news  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Porter  started  for  the  South.  On  their  way  to 
Savannah  they  stopped  at  Washington  and  had 
an  interview  with  President  Lincoln,  urging  upon 
him  her  favorite  plan  of  sending  disabled  soldiers 
to  northern  hospitals.  He  received  her  most 
cordially  and  gave  earnest  attention  to  her  repre- 
sentations. The  surgeon-general  and  various  sena- 
tors, among  them  her  former  friend  Senator  Howe, 
were  also  enlisted,  and  their  joint  labors  were 
crowned  with  gratifying  success.  Mrs.  Porter 
while  in  southern  hospitals,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  many  a  pallid  face  brighten,  and  many  a 
feeble  form  grew  suddenly  strong,  when  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  'boat  had  come'  and  with  it  an 
order  to  take  them  to  'God's  country.'  Some  of 
them  never  lived  to  reach  their  destination  but 
they  died  with  their  faces  toward  home,  and  'God's 
country'  was  not  perhaps  very  far  off. 

Mrs. Porter's  fervor  in  pressing  this  cause  and  her 


218  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

skill  in  arguing  the  case,  may  be  estimated  from  the 
two  following  letters,  copies  of  those  sent  at  the 
time,  found  among  her  manuscripts. 

The  first  was  written  before   her  interview  with 
President  Lincoln  from  the  field. 

"Field  Hospital, 
"Chattanooga,    Tenn.,    Jan.,    1863. 

His  Excellency, 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
Sir:  — 

"I  come  to  you  as  the  father  of  our  sorrowing 
land.  Do  not  consider  me  obtrusive  for  I  come 
in  behalf  of  wives,  sisters  and  mothers,  who  when 
you  asked  the  people  to  pray  for  you,  did  pray 
that  God  would  give  wisdom  and  grace  to  our 
President,  and  preserve  him  from  enemies,  who 
sought  his  life.  When  you  asked  for  twenty-five 
thousand  men,  our  husbands,  sons  and  brothers 
were  not  withheld,  but  were  sent  forth  with  many 
prayers  and  tears.  The  people  have  given  at  your 
call,  and  sent  to  battle  and  to  death,  their  noblest 
and  their  best,  and  to-day  a  voice  is  heard  through 
our  land  like  that  of  Ramah,  weeping  for  our 
children 'because  they  are  not.' 
"That  they  have  died  nobly  in  the  defense  of  right 
may  mitigate  their  sorrows  but  cannot  alter  the  sad 
fact.  The  wail  of  sorrow  goes  up  as  piteously  from 
obscure  places  in   our  land,  as  from   the   bereaved 


ARMY  WORK.     CONTINUED  gift 

king  when  with  stricken  heart  he  forgot  his  king- 
dom and  cried  in  the  fullness  of  his  grief,  \\ly  sun! 
my  son!   would  I  had  died  for  thee!' 

"But  it  is  not  for  the  dead  I  plead,  but  for  those 
who  stdl  live,   and    are    Buffering    home    and    heart 

sickness  in  Southern  hospitals.  We  ask  that  as  you 
are  giving  furloughs  to  all  veterans  who  are  able 
and  willing  to  re-enlist  from  the  ranks,  you  will 
not  forget  the  sick  and  wounded  veterans,  but  ex- 
tend furloughs  to  them  also. 

"They  will  be  nursed  in  their  homes  with  tender 
care,  and  when  more  men  are  needed,  they  will  be 
among  the  first  to  spring  into  the  ranks;  their  wives 
and  mothers  will  be  among  the  first  to  say  'Go, 
and  the  God  of  our  Fathers  go  with  you. '  President 
Lincoln,  do  you  know  that  the  holding  of  our  sick 
in  government  hospitals,  is  doing  more  in  some 
sections  of  our  country  to  prevent  re-enlistment, 
and  weaken  confidence  in  our  government  than  all 
other  causes  combined?  If  you  would  make  our 
children  love  the  cause  for  which  their  fathers  have 
sacrificed  all,  the  government  must  show  that  such 
sacrifices,  and  the  men  who  make  them  are  appre- 
ciated. The  little  child  feels,  with  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  household,  the  wrong  done  to  his 
father,  who  after  months  of  exhausting  service  in  a 
malarious  region,  falls  under  the  pressure  and  after 
weeks,  sometimes  months  of  tossing  on  a  cot  in  an 


220  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

infected  hospital,  asks  that  he  may  be  furloughed  and 
go  home,  if  only  to  die  and  is  refused.  His  family 
asks,  the  country  asks,  'Why  not?'  Is  it  too  much 
to  grant  to  a  man  who  has  volunteered  for  this 
service,  too  much  to  expect  of  a  government  which 
he  has  given  his  life  to  sustain?  If  by  any  means 
the  hearts  of  the  people  are  alienated  from  the 
government  it  sustains  a  loss  which  no  legislative 
acts  or  military  power  can  supply.  Let  our  pres- 
ident insist  upon  a  measure  which  should  return 
to  their  homes  on  sick-furlough  the  inmates  of  our 
large  hospitals  who  have  been  there  without  bene- 
fit for  weeks  or  months,  and  he  will  gather  around 
himself  the  affection  of  this  whole  nation  and  the 
blessing  of  those  ready  to  perish  will  rest  upon  him. 

"I  know  well  the  objections  urged.  I  will  not 
attempt  to  answer  them  although  I  do  not  deem 
them  unanswerable.  Is  it  not  safe  to  give  freemen 
their  rights?  Have  they  forfeited  them  by  becom- 
ing volunteers?  If  you  send  such  men  to  their 
homes,  you  need  no  other  recruiting  office  nor 
need  you  resort  to  a  draft.  The  filled  ranks  and 
the  ballot-box  will  testify  that  there  is  safety  in 
doing  right,  and  God  will  bless  those  who  'Do 
good  as  they  have  opportunity'  and  will  save  an 
afflicted  people. 

"May  our  country's  God  give  wisdom  and  grace 
for  your  help  in  this  time  of  need. 

E.  C.  Porter." 


ARMY  WORK.     CONTINUED  SSI 

The  second  is  a  fragment  undated  but  evidently 
written  shortly  after  the  visit  at  Washington  ur 
while  she  was  still  in  waiting  there. 

"You  will  no  doubt  recollect  the  promise  given  a 
few  days  since,  when  the  case  of  our  sick  in  hos- 
pitals was  brought  before  you.  The  interest  you 
have  at  all  times  manifested  in  the  condition  of  our 
soldiers  leads  us  to  press  upon  you  a  few  additional 
reasons  why,  at  this  time  the  matter  should  have 
special  attention.  First,  the  fact  will  not  be  for- 
gotten, that  five  thousand  sick  soldiers  were  re- 
moved to  the  North  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  to 
secure  the  election  of  our  chief  magistrate.  We 
rejoice  in  the  fact,  and  rejoice  in  the  result, 
and  we  believe  that  the  effort,  so  commendable, 
to  give  them  opportunity  to  aid  in  electing  the 
president,  should  be  extended  in  its  scope  and 
embrace  every  sick  man  in  every  hospital  in  the 
land  who  has  not  speedy  prospect  of  recovery. 
Such  should  be  removed  to  their  homes. 

"It  is  objected  that  very  low  cases  cannot  bear 
such  changes.  We  ask  only  what  is  practicable 
and  will  promote,  not  hinder,  the  progress  toward 
health  of  the  patient.  Veterans  are  needed,  and  we 
find  recruits  failing  at  every  point.  We  have  the 
testimony  of  those  who  have  watched  the  army,  that 
if  you  succeed  in  raising  up  our  sick  or  wounded 
veteran  he  is  equal  to  five  new  recruits.      The  sick 


222  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

from  Sherman's  last  campaign,  although  compara- 
tively few  are  almost  all  from  those  recruits.  Let 
the  sick  veterans  be  sent  therefore  on  account  of 
their  value. 

"2nd.  Because  they  detain  in  every  hospital  old 
soldiers  as  nurses  and  attendants.  Regiments 
might  to-day  be  sent  from  these  places  to  fill 
veteran  ranks  could  the  patients  who  might  be 
benefitted  by  it,  be  sent  to  their  homes  to  be  nursed 
by  wives,  mothers  and  sisters,  who  could  do  this 
work  better  than  even  a  veteran  nurse.  It  is  said 
that  there  is  an  order  for  all  able-bodied  soldiers 
to  be  relieved  from  hospital  duty  and  their  places 
supplied  by  convalescents.  All  who  know  anything 
of  the  necessities  of  sick  men,  know  that  thev  can- 
not be  properly  cared  for  by  those  who  are  feeble. 
Let  the  convalescent  statesmen,  or  convalescent 
surgeon  make  the  trial  and  report  to  the  War  De- 
partment his  opinion  gained  from  experience  !  Send 
these  men  home,  let  them  be  cared  for  by  loving 
hearts  and  hands,  and  our  veteran  convalescents, 
not  worn  with  hospital  service,  will  soon  form  an 
other  regiment  of  strong  experienced  soldiers. 

"3rd.  The  humanity  of  the  claim.  There  is  but 
one  opinion  among  our  surgeons  in  the  field.  They 
express  astonishment  at  the  course  pursued  by  the 
government,  and  charge  it  to  want  of  practical 
knowledge  of  the  working  of  the  system.      It  has 


ARM)    li  ORK.     CONTiM  ED  SSI 

been  proved  that  sick  and  wounded  men  are  in  a  far 
better  condition  who  have  bsen  transported  in  am- 
bulances and  kept  on  the  move  than  those  who  have 
been  left  in  Southern  hospitals,  from  which  every 
Northern  man  prays  to  be  delivered.  Think  of  the 
thousands  crowded  into  those  wards  sighing  and 
longing  for  home.  Better  that  they  should  die  in 
making  the  effort  to  reach  these  homes  than  lan- 
guish in  the  anguish  of  desire.  Better  that  their 
families  should  be  comforted  by  knowing  that 
the  government  did  what  it  could  to  save  them, 
than  writhe  under  the  thought  that  they  might 
have  been  saved. 

"The  old  slander  that  our  sick,  when  recovered, 
will  not  return  I  shall  not  attempt  to  meet.  I 
think  among  the  desertions  will  be  found  very  few 
of  those  who  have  been  furloughed  during  the  last 
two  years.  Multitudes,  as  facts  prove,  have  been  in 
such  haste  to  rejoin  their  regiments  that  they  have 
come  too  early,  before  the  expiration  of  sick-leave 
and  at  sacrifice  of  health.  None  of  these  objec- 
tions prevailed  against  five  thousand  men  berni; 
furloughed  that  their  votes  might  aid  in  retaining  in 
power  the  man  whom  we  knew  would  consider  their 
claims,  and  that  such  men  will  not,  when  able,  re- 
turn to  the  ranks  I  have  never  heard  an  insinu- 
ation. If  they  could  safely  be  removed  for  a  po- 
litical purpose  their  families  and  the  country  ask 
,  Why  not  to  save  precious  life?'" 


224  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER. 

From  Washington  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  went  to 
Savannah,  Ga.  A  few  lines  written  on  the  steam- 
er on  her  way  down  the  coast  to  one  of  her  sons 
show  the  spirit  which  she  carried  to  the  work. 
"Steamer  Fulton,  Dec.  25th,  1864. 
"I  hope  this  blessed  anniversary  has  found  you  in 
health  and  with  a  heart  filled  with  love  and  grati- 
tude to  that  dear  Saviour  who  so  loved  us  in  our 
sins,  that  he  was  willing  not  only  to  live  in  this 
world  as  a  poor  man  of  sorrows,  but  also  to  die  for 
His  enemies.  He  so  loved  as  to  give  Himself  a 
ransom  and  in  His  dying  love  could  plead  for  our 
forgiveness.  What  manner  of  love!  and  what 
reason  have  we  to-day  to  renew  our  consecration 
of  all  to  Him. 

"Mrs.  Porter  stayed  in  the  hospitals  at  Savannah, 
Georgia,  until  Gen.  Sherman  had  reached  Golds- 
boro.  To  this  place  she  followed  going  by  water 
to  Wilmington,  and  from  there  on  a  platform  car. 
A  torpedo  exploded  under  the  train  as  it  moved 
along.  The  sick  that  Gen.  Sherman  was  obliged 
to  leave  in  Goldsboro,  Mrs.  Porter  and  her  hus- 
band accompanied  to  Newburn,  North  Carolina, 
making  the  journey  part  of  the  way  in  a  cattle  car, 
after  having  spent  the  previous  night  sitting  on 
their  trunks,  because  there  was  no  room  for  them 
in  the  inn.  While  Mrs.  Porter  was  laboring  at 
Newbern,  she  visited  the  hospitals  at  Beaufort,  and 


ARMY  WORK.     COST1NUED  225 

there  met  again  her  old  coadjutor  Mrs.  Bicker- 
dyke.  From  Newborn  and  Beaufort,  these  two 
untiring  women  passed  up  to  Alexandria  following 
in  the  wake  of  the  victorious  army.  '  At  Alexandria 
they  joined  once  more  the  fifteenth  Army  corps. 
"No  work  of  the  commission  was  ever 
more  welcome  or  better  appreciated  than  that 
which  it  did  around  Washington,  during  the  weeks 
that  followed  upon  the  surrender  of  Gen.  Lee. 
Mrs.  Porter  and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  went  each  day 
among  the  camps  in  immense  army-wagons  loaded 
with  stores  and  made  distributions  with  their  own 
hands. 

"  Why  did  they  not  leave  this  for  others  ?  Because 
they  knew  well  that  their  own  wise  careful  doling 
out  secured  the  comfort,  sometimes,  as  in  case  of 
anti  scorbutics,  the  life,  of  many  men  who  would 
have  failed  to  receive  anything  under  more  lavish 
and  less  discriminating  methods. 

"The  hot  months  of  July  and  August  were  passed 
by  Mrs.  Porter  and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke,  in  the  hos- 
pitals of  Louisville,  Kentucky  and  in  those  between 
that  point  and  Huntsville,  Alabama.  Gen.  Logan 
had  requested  their  attention  to  the  troops  at 
Louisville.  Their  work  in  the  vicinity  of  Wash- 
ington being  done,  they  responded  readily  to  the 
demand,  and  found  much  want  among  the  hun- 
dreds of  men  flocking  home  through  that  thorough- 


22C  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

fare.  Mrs.  Porter  hastened  to  Chicago  for  supplies 
with  which  she  returned  laden,  and  here  as  at 
Washington  did  a  large  work  of  mercy.  An  inci- 
dent occurred  at  Louisville,  so  characteristic  of 
Mrs.  Bickerdyke  that  it  ought  not  to  be  omitted. 
"Some  of  the  troops  were  about  starting  for 
Texas,  and  word  came  that,  at  that  distant  out- 
post, scurvy  was  making  fearful  ravages,  Mrs. 
Porter  and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  desired  to  forward, 
under  the  care  of  the  men  just  leaving,  a  quantity 
of  anti-scorbutics.  The  captain  of  the  boat  prom- 
ised that  if  the  articles  were  on  the  wharf  by  a 
certain  hour,  he  would  take  them.  As  the  boat 
was  not  to  break  bulk  between  Louisville  and 
Texas  it  was  a  golden  opportunity.  It  was  Sunday 
and  raining  furiously.  Through  the  pelting  storm 
Mrs.  Porter  and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  went  about  to 
find  teams  which  should  carry  the  potatoes  to  the 
boat.  With  the  utmost  difficulty  wagons  were  found, 
loaded  and  the  driver  urged  to  go  rapidly,  which  he 
did  as  well  as  they  could  amid  the  rain  and  mud. 
When  they  came  within  sight  of  the  river  he  sud- 
denly slackened  his  pace.  'Why  don't  you  go 
on?'  remonstrated  Mrs.  Porter.  'It's  of  no  use, ' 
he  replied.  'The  boat  has  gone.'  With  dismay 
Mrs.  Porter  looked  and  there,  true  enough,  was 
the  steamer  rapidly  retreating.  The  hour  set  had 
not  quite  passed  but  the  captain  felt  sure  so  many 


ARMY  WORK.     CONTINUED  87 

obstacles  could  not  be  overcome,  and  the  boat  had 
put  off.  'It  shall  come  back,'  said  Mrs.  Bickerdyke, 
decidedly.  The  boat  was  in  the  stream.  In  the 
driving  rain  sat  the  two  resolute  women;  behind 
them  were  the  potatoes  which  had  cost  so  much 
labor  and  exposure.  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  rose  to  her 
feet  and  beckoned.  The  conscious  captain  stood 
observing.  With  the  air  of  an  empress  she  beckon- 
ed again.  The  boat  evidently  slackened  its  speed. 
Again  she  beckoned  still  more  emphatically.  The 
boat  rounded  to,  and  in  response  to  what  had  now 
become  a  volley  of  signals,  actually  returned  and 
took  on  the  potatoes.  The  next  morning  a  cartoon 
was  posted  up  in  the  streets  of  Louisville,  repre- 
senting a  woman  ordering  about  a  government 
steamer  with  a  wave  of  her  hand.  The  picture 
was  obtained  by  Mrs.  Porter  and  forwarded  to  Chi- 
cago to  Mr.  Blatchford  with  an  account  of  the 
affair.  This  incident  well  illustrates  Mrs.  Porter's 
modest  habit  of  assigning  to  her  coadjutor  the 
credit  of  the  work  which  they  jointly  accomplished. 
The  smallest  allusion  to  her  own  wonderful  labors, 
the  fullest  justice  to  her  friend  and  co-worker,  was 
the  refined  and  unselfish  rule  which  guided  her 
speech  and  pen.  In  August  these  two  untiring 
women  visited  the  hospitals  toward  the  South,  as 
far  as  Huntsville.  Ala.,  then  they  came  North  and 
separated,  conceiving  that  their  army  work  was 
done. 


228  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"But  Mrs.  Porter  had  still  before  her  some  of 
the  most  important  and  onerous  of  her  labors. 
On  the  7th  of  October,  the  commission  held 
a  meeting,  and  voted  a  large  supply  of  stores  to 
be  sent  under  her  care,  to  our  soldiers  on  the 
Mexican  frontier.  Thither  she  and  her  husband 
went  as  agents  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christians  com- 
missions, their  latest  agents  in  the  field. 

"The  work  which  Mrs.  Porter  did  in  Texas  de- 
serves of  itself  a  full  and  special  record. 

"She  distributed  her  supplies,  established  a  Pro- 
testant school  amid  a  Romanist  population,  taught 
in  it  herself,  won  her  way  to  all  hearts,  and  kept 
up  the  spirits  of  the  soldiers  who  were  homesick 
and  despirited  at  their  protracted  service.  When 
she  left,  the  lamentation  in  her  school  was  such 
that  it  was  heard  in  the  neighboring  streets.  She 
returned  in  June  1866.  She  was  the  last,  as  she 
had  been  the  first,  agent  in  the  field  of  the  North- 
western commission,  her  connection  with  it  having 
extended  over  the  space  of  four  years  and  a  half. 
On  their  return  from  Texas,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter 
had  a  formal  reception  given  them  at  the  Sherman 
house,  Chicago,  in  recognition  of  their  labors  in  field 
and  hospital  during  their  long  service,  in  which 
many  prominent  citizens  took  part." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN    AND    BROWNSVILLE 

These  years  of  army  service  had  not  been  une- 
ventful ones  in  the  family  history.  The  youngest 
son  had  been  one  of  a  company  of  hundred  day 
volunteers  and  had  spent  a  summer  in  the  heat  of 
Memphis.  The  daughter  had  been  at  another 
time  in  a  Christian  commission  "diet  kichen"  in 
one  of  the  hospitals  of  the  same  city.  The  mother, 
in  the  midst  of  her  cares,  could  but  carry  new 
burdens  of  anxiety  for  her  children  in  such  sur- 
roundings in  their  youth.  In  nothing  did  she 
show  the  reality  and  quality  of  her  faith  more 
clearly,  than  in  her  quiet  acceptance  of  what  those 
dear  to  her  believed  to  be  God's  call  to  them. 
had  made  it  the  aim  of  all  her  training,  to  im- 
press upon  those  entrusted  to  her  that  God  had  a 
plan  for  each  which  He  would  make  clear  to  the 
humble  and  dutiful  spirit;  that  the  very  law  of  lite 
was  this  open-hearted  unquestioning  obedient 
the  "Heavenly  vision".  To  the  endeavor  "f  afl 
tion  to  restrain    her  from  tasks  which    seemed 

heavy,  she  always  answerd,  "if  it  Is  God's  call,  I 


230  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

have  the  promise  of  His  strength."  Separated 
from  her  children,  she  dared  not  judge  for  them 
or  lay  upon  them  any  other  constraint  than  that 
which  the  principles  she  had  endeavored  so  earn- 
estly to  instill,  imposed. 

So  they  met  with  no  opposition  from  her,  only 
the  oft  repeated  caution  not  to  mistake  self-will 
for  heavenly  guidance.  A  heroism  which  unfalter- 
ingly gives  its  beloved  is  rarer  and  must  have 
deeper  springs,  than  that  which  gives  merely  itself 
to  peril  and  toil. 

When  Mrs.  Porter  went  to  Louisville  with  sani- 
tary stores,  her  son  Edward  accompained  her  to 
take  charge  of  them  en  route.  She  had  left  him  a 
few  months  before  in  a  little  home  just  established, 
now  she  found  it  desolate,  his  young  wife  suddenly 
stricken  down  and  taken  from  him.  During  these 
years  of  stress  and  exhausting  labor  she  thus  car- 
ried some  peculiar  burden  of  anxiety  or  sympathy 
for  each  one  of  the  sundered  household.  After  a 
brief  stay  in  Chicago  Mrs.  Porter  went  to  Green 
Bay,  to  visit  Mrs.  Tank  and  other  friends.  In  the 
early  autumn  Mr.  Porter  accepted  a  call  to  be- 
come the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church  in 
Prairie  du  Chien,  Wisconsin.  His  wife  soon  joined 
him  there,  and  they  began  making  arrangements 
for  a  home.  A  house  was  purchased,  repairs  be- 
gun, and  elm  trees  set  out — every  home   in  which 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  AND  BROWNSVILLE  231 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  lived  together  was  made  a  joy  to 
those  who  have  followed  them  by  the  elms  which 
surrounded  it.  Their  daughter  came  to  live  with 
them  while  they  were  still  boarding  near  the  church, 
waiting  the  completion  of  necessary  changes  in  the 
house.  It  was  five  years  since  any  of  them  had 
had  a  home,  and  the  mother's  pleasure  in  the  ar- 
rangements which  were  to  make  the  little  brick 
house  attractive  and  convenient  was  as  eager  as 
her  devotion  to  the  details  of  her  home  had  always 
been.  Her  sons  were  not  likely  to  be  in  it  except 
to  come  and  go,  so  it  must  be  planned  with  spec- 
ial reference  to  the  daughter's  tastes  and  wishes. 
Her  own  thought  for  her  life  had  gradually  shaped 
itself  in  a  very  different  way  and  yet — if  this  might 
be!  She  dared  not  decide;  her  parents  certainly 
had  first  claim.  The  frail  mother  worn  by  unre- 
mitting toil  needed  her  care,  what  a  joy  it  would 
be  to  give  it;  to  find  in  study  and  parish  work 
mental  and  spiritual  culture.  Yet  it  was  cruel  to 
let  the  mother  build  her  sweet  plans  and  gentle 
hopes  into  the  home  if  they  were  only  to  be  dis- 
appointed. The  question  was  laid  before  her  not  as 
a  conviction  of  immediate  duty  but  as  that  which 
lay  in  her  daughter's  mind  as  an  ultimate  plan,  to 
be  postponed  or  given  up  if  her  parents  thought  she 
should  remain  with  them.  A  demand  for  self- 
sacrifice  was  the    bugle-note  to    Mrs.    Porter;     she 


232  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

had  responded  to  that  with  utmost  alacrity  from 
her  youth  and  now  there  was  not  an  instant's  hesi- 
tation. The  answer  was  as  prompt  as  decisive. 
"I  have  all  my  life  been  praying  'Thy  kingdom 
come, '  if  God  asks  for  my  children  to  hasten  its 
coming  in  the  dark  places  what  can  I  say  except, 
Lord  they  are  Thine,  for  Thy  service  when  and  as 
thou  wilt!" 

What  it  meant  to  her  she  herself  shall  tell  in  a 
letter  written  evidently  in  response  to  some  inquir- 
ies and  solicitations  from  one  of  the  "officers  of  the 
Woman/ s  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior. 

"My  dear  Friend: — 

As  I  look  over  this  hastily  written  sheet, 
and  compare  it  with  your  request,  I  know  it  does 
not  meet  your  expressed  desire  and  perhaps  I  ought 
to  add  a  few  words  more  explicitly  connected 
with  my  own  experience  in  regard  to  the  dear 
daughter  to  whom  you  refer 

"Could  I  hope  by  such  an  addition  to  aid  or 
strengthen  mother  or  daughter  in  personal  sacri- 
fice in  that  direction  I  should  gladly  extol  the  grace 
and  love  of  God  manifested  to  me  and  mine  in 
this  self-denying  but  blessed  work.  God  never 
calls  His  people  to  any  service  without  assurance 
that  He  will  be  with  them,  and  Grace  sufficient. 
"And  first  in  the  duties  and  self  sacrifice  of  mother- 
hood we  hear  Him  say  'she  shall  be  saved   if  she 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  AND  BROWNSVILLE 

continue  in  faith.'  I  never  had  but  one  desire  in 
becoming  a  mother,  and  from  the  time  I  felt  the 
cares  and  responsibilities  that  come  to  the  human 
heart  when  that  foundation  of  love  and  tenderness 
is  opened,  my  desire  for  my  children  was  one  con- 
tinued prayer  that  they  might  be  the  Lord's  and 
perform  service  for  Him. 

"I  desired  for  them  the  highest  good,  and  God 
had  made  me  know  by  a  long  course  of  discipline, 
that  all  permanent  good  must  come  in  connection 
with  faith,  love  and  obedience. 

"How  could  I  then  but  give  my  dear  ones  to  Him 
to  lead  and  guide?  I  lent  them  to  the  Lord  as 
long  as  they  lived,  desiring  one  thing  of  Him,  that 
he  would  choose  our  inheritance  for  us  and  let  us 
dwell  in  His  house  forever. 

"They  were  trained  and  educated  with  the  idea  of 
preparation  for  service;  not  choosing  the  mission- 
ary field  for  them,  but  ever  in  word  and  action 
making  them  feel  that  it  was  a  prominent  part  of 
God's  work  on  earth  and  that  God  might  call  me 
and  mine  into  the  work. 

"Our  little ,  when  very  young,  in  hearing 

Dr.  Scudder's  account  of  the  poor  heathen  chil- 
dren, said  'I  shall  be  a  missionary;  I  am  going  to 
be  a  teacher,  and  teach  at  home  first,  and  I  shall 
go  among  the  heathen.'     This  was  her  infant  plan. 

"I  said,  My  children  are  the  Lord's,  and  when- 


234  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

ever  He  calls  them  I  want  them   to   be    prepared 
to  go. 

"At  the  age  of  ten  she,  with  her  older  brother, 
now  in  China  also,  and  their  sister,  now  in  the 
heavenly  home,  united  with  the  church  of  which 
her  father  was  pastor. 

"Years  fled;  school  duties  filled  up  the  years  of 
preparation,  in  which  her  mind  was  deeply  ab- 
sorbed. 

"The  war  came.  Her  parents,  after  giving  them- 
selves to  that  work  in  the  sanitary  rooms,  and 
hospitals,  were  separated  from  loved  ones.  Our 
sons  were  in  the  midst  of  the  dangers  of  the  field 
and  we  with  them  were  suffering  all  the  anxieties 
of  separation,  balancing   between   hope  and    fear. 

"God,  by  that  very  discipline,  was  preparing  us 
submissively  to  say  when  the  summons  came.  Here 
am  I  and  the  children  which  I  gave  to  thee.'  Do 
with  us,  with  them,  as  shall  please  thee. 

"And  do  you  think  it  cost  nothing  at  that  point 
of  our  domestic  history  which  I  cannot  now  trace, 
to  give  up  our  child  from  home? 

"An  invitation  came  for  her  attendance  upon  a 
meeting  of  the  American  board.  In  that  sepa- 
ration I  realized,  as  I  was  left  alone,  something  of 
the  desolation  and  agony  which  must  follow  her 
final  departure. 
"My  husband  being  absent,  I  had  no  earthly  prop 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHI  EN  AND  BROlVNSl/ll.U: 

on  which  to  lean.  Our  house,  once  filled  with  a 
group  of  loving,  cheerful  hearts,  whose  sweet  voices 
and  pattering  feet  met  us  at  every  point,  now 
gone!  gone!  As  we  went  out,  no  dear  anxious  child 
inquired  'How  long,  mamma?1  and  when  we  came 
in,  no  glad  welcome  awaited  us.  'What  a  change!' 
I  said,  'and  this  is  to  be  sad  reality  of  all  your 
future  domestic  life;  a  continued  contrast  to  the 
joy,  and  toil  and  care  of  past  days  and  years.'  In 
my  distress  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  'What  does  this 
mean?  this  horror  of  great  darkness?  have  we  mis- 
taken the  way?  Is  this  a  cross  of  my  own  making? 
have  I  been  brought  into  this  wilderness  in  faith 
and  hope,  to  faint  here?' 

UI  turned  to  my  Bible,  my  stronghold   in  every 
emergency,  and  opened  to  this  wonderful  passage: 

"  'I  will  not  leave  you   comfortless,    I  will  come 
to  you. ' 

"I  felt  the  import  of  that  promise,  'I  will  come 
to  you. ' 

"My  heart  melted  into  loving  trust, and  exclaimed 
'If  Thou,  Lord,  wilt  indeed  come  and  be  our  com- 
forter, and  fill  our  hearts  and  home,  I  can  then 
give  up  my  darling,  can  trust  her,  can  leave  all 
with  Thee,  in  whose  fullness  there  is  joy  and 
peace.'  Promise  after  promise  came  to  me  as  a 
new  revelation.  'I  and  my  Father  will  come  and 
make  our  abode  with  you. '     'If    any  man  open  the 


236  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

door  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  him.'  My  heart 
said,  'Come  in,  dear  Lord,  and  if  thou  wilt  indeed 
abide  with  me,  I  cannot  be  alone.'  I  heard  Him 
say,  'Peace  I  leave  with  thee.  My  peace  I  give 
unto  thee,  not  as  the  world  giveth. '  The  world 
says  we  are  mad,  beside  ourselves,  and  asks  'How 
can  you  think  that  God  approves  such  a  sacrifice 
of  your  young  and  only  daughter. '  Surely  there  is 
enough  in  this  land  which  calls  for  workers,  in  ev- 
ery department,'  said  many  who  called  themselves 
Christians,  'and  here  such  a  daughter  ought  to 
work. ' 

'I  came  to  Jesus  as  I  was, 
Weary  and  worn  and  sad, 
I  found  in  Him  a  resting-place 
And  He  has  made  me  glad.' 

"I  claimed  those  great  and  precious  promises. 
They  are  mine.  That  week  of  prayer  and  faith 
enabled  me  to  say  'Go,'  to  my  darling,  and  with- 
out tears  or  apparent  sorrow,  to  strengthen  and 
aid  her  in  preparation. 

"Ah!  and  she,  too,  must  meet  it  alone.  But  that 
same  Jesus  sends  a  Comforter,  and  we  heed  not  the 
doubts  and  fears  of  loving  friends.  And  there 
were  many  such,  whose  opinions  we  highly  valued 
and  to  forfeit  whose  confidence  cost  something. 
But  our  comforter  said  'Fear  not  the  reproaches 
of  men.'      In  answer  to  the  oft  repeated  question, 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  AND  BROWNSVILLE 

4  How  could  you  give  up  your  daughter  to  such  a 
work?'  my  reply  was,  'The  Lord  who  called  her 
can  alone  know  what  it  cost  her  mother  to  give 
her  up,  and  He  alone  could  sustain  me  in  it,  and 
give  peace  in  believing.'  Had  I  other  sons  and 
daughters,  gladly  would  I  give  them  to  any  work 
where  God  evidently  called.  He  is  faithful  who 
has  promised  and  will  perform  all." 

When  this  decision  was  made  it  was  thought 
that  the  actual  parting  might  be  far  in  the  future. 
There  were  a  few  busy  months  of  "getting  to 
housekeeping."  The  sons,  with  some  of  their 
friends  visited  the  new  home  and  in  the  winter 
holidays,  the  family  were  all  together,  gathered  for 
the  last  time  under  their  own  roof-tree.  The 
mother  was,  as  always,  the  center  of  the  circle; 
there  was  force  and  flavor  in  her  talk  and  her 
children,  able  now,  as  never  before,  to  appreciate 
both  her  affection  and  her  intellect,  on  the  one 
hand  petted  and  on  the  other  half  adored  their 
strong  gentle  winsome  "little  mother,"  who  had 
done  such  extraordinary  things  and  yet  kept  all 
the  old  womanliness  and  quiet  appreciative  humor. 
She  rebelled,  half  playfully,  half  in  earnest  at  find- 
ing herself  set  aside  from  the  kitchen  drudgery, 
but  yielded  in  the  end  with  merry  grace,  sure  that 
the  obstinacy  of  her  children  would  bring  its  own 
retribution,  when  her  skill  would  be  sorely    needed. 


238  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

There  were  many  inconveniences  and  vicissitudes 
in  the  new  place  with  unreliable  help  in  the  cold 
of  a  northern  winter.  With  what  tact  and  sweet- 
ness she  met  each  perplexity  her  family  well  re- 
member and  how  she  enjoyed  being  once  more  a 
hostess,  at  the  head  of  her  own  table.  There  was 
marked  religious  interest  in  the  community  during 
that  and  the  following  winter  and  not  a  few  traced 
their  conversion  immediately  to  Mrs.  Porter's  in- 
fluence. In  1867,  it  was  decided  that  the  daughter 
should  go  abroad  as  soon  as  necessary  preparations 
could  be  made. 

In  February  1868  Mrs.  Porter  accompanied  her  to 
Chicago;  when  they  parted  the  mother's  good-bye 
was  characteristic,  having  in  it  that  sweet  im- 
petuosity and  marvelous  thought  for  others, 
which  led  her  to  do  so  many  beautiful  unexpected 
things,  on  some  quick  impulse  of  affection. 
All  thought  the  last  word  spoken  and  none 
wondered  that  the  mother's  self  control  was  some- 
what shaken,  and  that  her  face  was  hidden  when 
the  father  and  daughter  left  the  house.  There  was 
a  moment's  delay  in  adjusting  hand  luggage  after 
they  were  seated  in  the  carriage;  the  front  door 
opened  and  out  ran  Mrs.  Porter  down  the  walk  to 
the  gate,  up  a  slight  incline  of  boards  which  led  to 
the  carriage.  Her  step  was  elastic  as  a  girl's,  her 
cheek  flushed  and  her  eyes   softly  bright.      As  she 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  AND  BROWNSVILLE 

put  her  face  up  to  the  window  she  said,  "You  shall 
see  your  mother  last  with  a  smile,  you  shall  not 
remember  her  in  tears!"  The  smile  was  there.  Its 
radiance  glows  across  the  years,  and  one  not  unlike 
it  may  greet  her  child  when  they  meet  again.  For 
it  was  the  outshining  of  that  light  which  is  not  to 
fade  or  die,  but  belongs  to  the  immortal  life. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  a  call  to  Mr. 
Porter  from  the  church  in  Brownsville,  Texas, 
opened  the  way  for  their  return  to  the  South. 
Mrs.  Porter  was  very  desirous  of  carrying  on  the 
school  work  there  and  felt  the  loneliness  of  the 
quiet  town,  where  comparatively  little  was  demand- 
ed of  her,  harder  to  bear  than  the  severest  labor. 
She  never  again  desired  to  make  a  home,  her  tem- 
porary housekeeping,  resumed  several  times,  was 
always  ordered  with  the  thought  of  frequent  change. 
She  was  happy  in  securing  the  Misses  Elizabeth 
and  Barbara  Grant,  then  recently  graduated  from 
Oberlin  college,  to  accompany  her  as  teachers  in 
the  seminary.  They  remained  until  the  following 
summer  when  they  returned  to  the  North  and 
opened  the  school  for  young  ladies  in  Chicago, 
which  they  carried  on  for  many  years,  and  which 
under  their  successors  is  still  known  as  Miss  Grant's 
school.  'In  the  autumn  of  1869,  Miss  Emma 
Dickinson,  now  Mrs.  Arthur  H.  Smith  of  North 
China  went  to  Brownsville   with    Mrs.  Porter    and 


240  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

taught  with  other  assistants  for  succeeding  months. 
A  letter  written  years  later  gives  very  vividly  some 
of  Mrs.  S. '  impressions  of  that  time.  A  word  pic- 
ture of  Mrs.  P's  work  for  the  untrained,  untruthful 
Mexican  children. 

Mrs.  Smith  writes  from  Tientsin,  China,  in  1881. 
After  acknowledging  some  gift  for  her  baby  boy 
she  says:  "Little  H.  shall  be  taught  to  keep  you 
'In  the  round  tower  of  his  heart. '  I  hope  he  may 
see  your  dear  faces  some  day.  I  wonder  if  they 
will  be  the  same  faces  to  me.  .  .  I  should 
want  my  dear  little  'foster-mother's'  hair  just  as 
brown  as  it  was  the  last  day  I  brushed  it  and  her 
eyes  as  bright,  and  I  should  want  to  sit  at  the  foot 
of  somebody's  pulpit  and  hear  a  regular  Browns- 
ville sermon,  and  will  promise  not  to  pout  if  it 
means  me,  as  those  sermons  always  did.  Every 
kind  tender,  and  helpful  thing  you  did  for  me  that 
year  is  fresh  in  my  memory  to-day  and  will  stay 
there  while  I  have  any.  Do  you  know,  is  it  not 
odd,  that  although  that  dear  little  mother  has 
done  so  many  great  and  noble  things  for  which 
not  only  her  husband  and  children,  but  the  whole 
northwest,  'rise  up  and  call  her  blessed;'  she 
always  seems  to  my  thought  greatest,  sweetest, 
saintliest,  on  her  knees,  in  the  little  dark  closet, 
under  the  stairs,  in  the  school  building  at  Browns- 
ville, praying  Joseph  Demara  (wasn't  it?)  honest? 


PRAIRIE  D  U  CHI  EN  AND  BRO IVNS  VI  I.  L  E  1 1 1 

I  can  see  now  the  look  of  awe  on  his  face.  It 
seems  as  wonderful  to  me  now  as  it  did  that  day, 

that  despite  the  fact  the  boy  did  not  know  English 
and  could  not  have  understood  that  prayer,  he  felt 
it  and — proof  enough  even  for  this  skeptical  nine- 
teenth century — an  orange  could  stay  in  the  closet 
all  day,  untouched  afterward  !" 

Miss  Dickinson  remained  with  them  through 
the  year,  and  at  its  close,  in  the  summer  of  1870, 
Mrs.  Porter  again  came  North  and  took  back  with 
her  other  teachers  and  a  housekeeper.  This  time 
instead  of  boarding,  they  set  up  their  own  establish- 
ment but  Mrs.  Porter  as  before,  had  general  charge 
of  the  school.  Through  these  years  Mr.  Porter  had 
not  only  done  the  work  of  his  parish  but  also 
preached  regularly  to  the  soldiers,  and  been  prac- 
tically chaplain  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Brown. 
Senator  Howe  and  other  friends,  without  his  so- 
licitation made  application  for  his  appointment 
and  in  July  he  received  a  commission  as  Post 
Chaplain  in  the  regular  army — which  he  retained 
until  he  was  retired  in  1882. 

This  change,  must  in  any  case  have  closed  Mrs. 
Porter's  connection  with  the  school,  but  it  did  not 
come  until  she  was  quite  ready  to  turn  that  over 
to  other  hands.  The  school  fund  of  Texas  is  very 
large,  ample  for  the  needs  of  its  towns  and  sh»  no 
longer  felt  justified  in  asking  funds  from  the  North 


243  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

to  sustain  a  school,  which  was  manifestly  never 
to  become  self-sustaining.  Instead  of  going  North 
that  summer,  Mr.  and  Mis.  Porter  removed  to 
officers'  quarters  in  Fort  Brown  and  took  their  va- 
cation in  the  autumn  in  a  trip  of  six-hundred  miles 
into  Mexico,  where  they  visited  the  mission  in 
Monterey  and  made  themselves  familiar  with  the 
needs  of  that  field,  in  which  they  had  from  this 
time  peculiar  interest.  Now  began  for  them  both 
work  for  the  regular  army  in  time  of  peace,  a  serv- 
ice as  different  from  that  among  volunteers  in  time 
of  war,  as  from  that  of  an  ordinary  parish. 

In  March  1872,  they  came  North  for  visits 
among  friends.  While  Mr.  P.  went  to  New  England 
his  wife  accompanied  Mrs.  Tank  on  her  return  to 
her  lonely  home  in  Fort  Howard.  Mrs.  Tank  had 
just  come  from  Bethlehem,  Penn.,  where  she  had 
been  to  lay  the  remains  of  her  only  child  beside 
those  of  her  father,  in  the  Moravian  cemetery. 
Mary  Tank  had  almost  a  child's  place  in  Mrs. 
Porter's  affection,  and  it  was  with  a  deep  sense  of 
personal  loss  that  she  assisted  in  arranging  all  her 
personal  effects  for  distribution.  Tn  May  of  this 
year  the  youngest  son,  Henry  D.  Porter,  with  his 
college  associate  and  friend,  Arthur  H.  Smith, who 
had  in  the  meantime  married  Miss  Dickinson,  was 
ordained  to  the  Christian  ministry  and  set  apart 
for  foreign   missionary   service   at    Beloit.     There 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  AND  BROWNSVILLE  MB 

too,  Mrs.  Porter  met  the  bride  of  her  son  Edward, 
a  real  daughter  whose  love  was  very  precious  to 
her  for  the  few  months  that  she  was  spared  as  a 
member  of  the  family.  In  June  the  missionary 
party  left  Chicago  for  China.  The  mother's  strug- 
gle in  giving  up  her  son,  has  no  record,  only  in  the 
'secret  place'  where  she  wrestled  and  triumphed, 
was  any  faltering  shown — but  of  her  joy  in  antici- 
pation of  the  reunion  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea 
she  loved  to  speak,  for  her  children  were  to  be  in 
the  same  mission.  From  this  time  her  interests 
seemed  almost  as  much  there  as  in  this  land  and 
she  entered  into  all  her  son's  labors  medical 
and  evangelistic,  as  their  details  came  to  her, 
with  the  most  intelligent  and  appreciative  sym- 
pathy. 

During  this  year  a  regiment  which  had  a  chap- 
lain attached  to  it,  was  stationed  at  Fort  Brown, 
and  Mr.  Porter's  services  were  no  longer  needed  at 
that  post.  In  Feburary  he  was  transferred  to  Fort 
Sill  in  Indian  Territory.  Mrs.  Porter  remained  at 
the  North  until  November,  but  returned  to  Texas 
at  that  time  and  was  ready  to  go  with  her  hus- 
band to  the  new  field. 

Mr.  Porter's  skeleton  record  of  family  life  sent  to 
China,  at  the  request  of  one  of  his  children  closes 
during  their  service  there  with  the  words: 

"January  ist,   1874,    finds  us  at  Fort  Sill,  Indian 


244  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

Territory,  among  the  Comanche  and  Kiawa  tribes; 
rejoicing  in  the  Lord  and  all  the  way  He  has  led 
us  these  forty  years,  waiting  until  our  change  come. 
Learned  of  the  sudden  death  of  the  Rev.  Joel 
Grant  in  Chicago,  just  as  the  year  expired.  A  hap- 
py new  year  to  the  dear  brother  in  Heaven  his 
Home!" 


CHAPTER  XVII 

GARRISON  LIFE — WORK  IN  AUSTIN,    TEXAS 

From  this  time  Mrs.  Porter  fitted  up  their  cot- 
tage, in  whichever  Fort  they  were  stationed  with 
the  least  possible  outlay.  She  always  made  it 
cosy  and  attractive  but  kept  in  mind  the  flitting 
sure  to  come,  and  was  unwilling  to  burden  herself 
with  many  belongings,  or  the  care  of  anything  but 
the  simplest  establishment.  She  taught  the  chil- 
dren of  the  garrison  in  a  day  school,  gathered  the 
laundresses  for  instruction,  and  made  herself  the 
special  friend  of  every  one  in  need.  Her  elasticity 
and  strength  were,  however,  much  reduced  and 
she  was  never  again  free  from  attacks  of  low  ma- 
larial fever  which  greatly  prostrated  her.  Her 
lungs  too  were  very  sensitive  and  pneumonia 
threatened  upon  any  exposure.  Life  at  the  Fort 
she  could  bear  only  under  favorable  conditions. 
Once  she  was  carried  on  a  cot,  in  an  army  ambu- 
lance, tenting  at  night,  two  days  journey  to  take 
the  train  for  the  North  when  recuperation  seemed 
hopeless  inthe  malarial  atmosphere  of  Indian  Ter- 
ritory.     Mr.  Porter's  duties  prevented  his  remain- 

348 


246  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

ing  with  her  and  now  came  the  literal  fulfillment  of 
the  promise  for  "This  present  time'  "An  hundred- 
fold of  houses  and  children."  All  over  the  north- 
west were  those  who  felt  themselves  her  debtors — 
and  she  was  cared  for  in  beautiful  homes  where  her 
presence  was  accounted  a  benediction. 

Those  in  which  she  passed  months  at  different 
times  were  Mr.  E.  \V.  Blatchford's,  Mr.  P.  C.  Go- 
bies and  Judge  E.  S.Williams,  in  Chicago — and  the 
dear  Beloit  one  in  which  her  sons  had  all  been  as 
students,  Prof.  William  Porter's  was  always  open 
to  her.  In  1873  a  new  joy  was  given  her,  that  in 
which  God  lets  His  children,  in  the  mellowness  of 
age,  renew  the  delight  of  youth  without  its  care  in 
the  love  of  little  children,  their  very  own — the  first 
grandchild  came  to  the  circle.  The  young  mother 
lived  but  a  week,  the  frail  boy,  whom  it  was  hardly 
hoped  would  survive  her  was  baptized  above  her 
coffin,  Edwards  Hyndshaw,  his  father's  name  with 
the  family  one  of  his  mother.  Judge  Williams  was 
a  cousin  of  Mr.  Porter's  and  his  wife  a  sister  of 
the  child's  mother.  To  her  care  the  little  one  was 
entrusted,  and  she  guarded  and  watched  over  him 
with  a  devotion  which  had  its  reward  in  his  laying 
hold  on  life,  and  his  growth  into  a  most  loving  and 
winsome,  although  for  years,  an  exceedingly  deli- 
cate child.  Naturally  from  this  time  the  attrac- 
tions of  Judge  William's  home  outweighed  all  others 


GARRISON  LI  1 1: 

to  the  grandmother  and  when  she  could  not  endure 
the  exposure  of  the  garrison  home,  she  found  the 
most  reverent  affection  and  tender  care  in  that 
household  with  which  the  Porter  family  was  linked 
by  so  many  ties. 

There  she  spent  two  winters  of  enforced  sepa- 
ration from  her  husband.  Too  much  of  an  invalid 
to  venture  out  in  the  cold  weather,  she  and  the 
fragile  boy,  who  was  also  shut  in  for  all  the  frosty 
months,  were  inseparable  companions,  and  the 
child  voiced  the  sentiment  of  many  another  little 
one,  when  he  one  day  gravely  said  at  table,  turn- 
ing to  pat  her  soft  cheek,  "Grandma  is  so  nice  to 
play  with."  She  mended  his  toys,  built  forts  and 
towns  of  his  blocks,  told  beautiful  stories  and  put 
him  to  sleep  with  hymns,  renewing  in  his  nursery 
all  that  was  sweetest  in  the  earlier  years,  but  now 
at  leisure,  with  no  pressing  demands  which  forbade 
her  lingering,  as  in  those  days  there  had  always 
been. 

Not  alone  in  these  homes  did  Mrs.  Porter  find 
attention  and  watch  care  truly  filial.  She  could 
hardly  enter  a  railroad  car,  or  drive  about  in  a  new 
place  but  she  met  some  one  whom  she  had  be- 
friended, and  as  she  had  sown  so  now  she  reaped, 
affection,  thoughtful  attention  and  helpful  minis- 
try. Another  real  joy  came  in  these  later  years. 
She  so  loved  to  give,  not    service  alone  but  money 


248  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

to  the  various  causes  of  benevolence.  From  her 
slender  means  she  had  by  no  means  wholly  denied 
herself  this  privilege,  but  she  had  never  had  any 
considerable  sum,  even  from  her  own  modest  stand- 
point, under  her  control.  Now  her  friend,  Mrs. 
Tank  desired  to  use  her  income  for  some  form  of 
Christian  service  and  not  to  be  known.  She  had 
watched  Mrs.  Porter's  wise  and  economical  ad- 
ministration of  her  own  household,  knew  what  a 
training  she  had  had  in  making  the  most  of  a  little, 
and  trusted  her  implicitly.  It  was  therefore  very 
natural  that  she  should  have  made  her,  to  no 
small  extent,  her  almoner.  Mrs.  Porter  accepted 
the  trust  with  sincere  pleasure  and  fulfilled  it  with 
painstaking  fidelity.  She  was  a  very  clear-headed 
business  woman,  scrupulous  as  to  receipts,  and 
attentive  to  details.  The  monies  entrusted  to  her 
husband  and  herself  were  frequently  sent  without 
restriction  as  to  where,  or  how  they  were  to  be 
used,  although  more  often  with  such  directions  as 
"For  Home  missions,"  "For  Foreign  missions,"  or 
"For  the  Freedmen — "  on  the  books  of  all  these 
societies  "A  Friend  by  Rev.  J.  Porter,"  or  "A  friend 
by  Mrs.  Porter,"  became  a  frequent  entry.  Much 
as  Mrs.  Porter  prized  the  opportunities  of  sending 
funds  through  these  channels,  there  were  others 
which  demanded  more  thought  and  care,  and  had 
in  some  ways,  even  greater  personal  interest.    Five 


GARRISON  LIFE 

dollars  to  a  family  in  want  here,  ten  to  a  strug- 
gling chuivh  there.  Mrs.  Porter's  wide  acquaintance 
and  her  skill  in  touching  wounds  of  spirit  with  the 
touch  of  healing,  instead  of  pain,  opened  to  her 
many  sore  cases  of  need  which  were  hidden  from 
most  eyes,  and  an  appeal  from  her  seldom  failed 
to  bring  response  from  that  lonely  cottage  in 
Northern  Wisconsin.  Mrs.  Tank's  gifts  were  not 
large,  bat  they  were  constant,  and  in  the  course 
of  the  years  about  twelve  thousand  dollars  passed 
through  the  hands  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  from 
this  source.  As  most  of  this  came  in  tens,  fifties, 
or  single  hundreds,  the  correspondence  and  thought 
involved  may  be  estimated. 

During  these  years  also,  Mrs.  Porter  relieved 
from  many  responsibilities,  was  less  limited  in  her 
own  resources,  and  it  was  the  delight  of  her  old 
age  to  help  others  who  were  bearing  the  burden 
and  heat  of  the  day,  standing  in  the  hard  places 
which  she  knew  by  experience  so  well,  and  to 
aid  in  the  great  work  of  building  up  the  kingdom 
in  all  the  earth. 

From  Fort  Sill  Mr.  Porter  was  transferred  to 
Fort  D.  A.  Russel  in  Wyoming  territory.  There 
in  1876  the  daughter  found  them  on  her  return 
from  China.  Mrs.  Porter  was  very  frail,  but  had 
taken  her  place  in  a  garrison  school-room  until  the 
cold    weather    of    autumn    forbade    the    exposure. 


250  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

The  "Chaplain's  quarters"  was  a  picturesque,  if 
paintless  and  slightly-built  cottage,  and  it  had  the 
air  of  homelikeness,  which  soon  marked  any  spot 
in  which  Mrs.  Porter  and  her  trunk  were  set  down. 
Probably  there  was  not  another  so  inexpensively 
furnished  house  in  all  the  row,  but  officers  and 
civilians  as  they  came  in  would  exclaim  "Oh!  how 
cozy  and  pleasant  you  are  here."  The  policing  of 
the  garrison — bringing  wood  and  water,  shovelling 
snow  and  carrying  off  refuse,  was  done  by  men 
from  the  guard  house  sent  under  a  sergeant's  care 
to  perform  these  servile  tasks  as  part  of  their  pun- 
ishment while  under  arrest.  The  old  negro  woman 
and  her  pretty  daughter  who  had  come  from  De- 
troit with  Mrs.  Porter  to  preside  in  the  kitchen 
looked  with  the  greatest  contempt  on  hese  "drunk- 
en good-for-nothing  fellows."  It  would  certainly 
have  been  injudicious  to  ask  them  to  do  them  serv- 
ice. Contempt  for  any  human  being  found  small 
place  in  Mrs.  Porter's  heart.  "Poor  fellows  ruined 
with  drink,  and  they  have  mothers,  perhaps  wives 
somewhere;"  she  would  reply.  Each  week  on  the 
days  when  the  Chaplain's  quarters  were  in  their 
round,  she  would  herself  make  great  cards  of  gin- 
gerbread, baked  in  the  largest  dripping  pans  the 
kitchen  afforded,  cut  them  in  squares  of  six  or 
eight  inches  and  lay  them  on  piles  of  newspapers  — 
illustrated  ones  if  possible — near  the  door,  as  the 


GARRISON  LlhE 

men  passed  she  handed  one  to  each  with  a  pleas- 
ant word.  The  guard  stood  waiting,  there  was  no 
time  for  conversation,  but  an  illuminated  text  was 
usually  hidden  among  the  newspapers,  and  whether 

they  found  that  or  not,  the  men  must  have  gone 
away  with  hearts  a  little  warmer  for  the  proof  that 
some  one  cared  for  them  in  their  humiliation. 

So  in  all  ways  of  lowliest  service,  Mrs.  Porter 
with  eyes  grown  quick  to  see  by  loving  watching, 
heart  kept  alive  to  the  wants  of  others  by  the 
habit  of  response,  still  "went  about  doing  good." 
In  ministrations  to  the  needy  poor  she  did  not 
forget  the  not  less  needy  rich.  Proud  women  of 
the  world  and  strong  men  of  affairs,  trusted  and 
loved  her.  One  almost  wondered  that  she  did  not 
grow  cynical,  so  many  stories  of  domestic  infe- 
licity, or  of  bitter  pain  were  poured  into  her  ears. 
She  never  thought  or  spoke  lightly  of  any  thing 
which  involved  moral  wrong,  and  never  lost  the 
delicacy  of  feeling  which  shrank  from  word  or 
look  which  bore  the  shadow  of  coarseness  or  im- 
purity. Yet  amid  the  evil,  she  seemed  always  to 
find  the  good  that  was  left,  could  appeal  to  the 
honor  of  a  man,  who  in  the  view  of  others  had 
none,  or  to  the  better  instincts  of  a  woman,  who 
had  stooped  to  lowest  vice,  in  a  way  to  win  re- 
sponse. 

In    1878   Mrs.    Porter   welcomed    the    return   of 


252  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

her  missionary  son,  and  April  of  1879  saw  the 
family  all  together  for  the  last  time.  The  occasion 
was  the  marriage  of  this  son  to  a  daughter  of 
President  Chapin  of  Beloit  college.  Mr.  Edward 
Porter  was  also  there  with  his  wife  of  only 
two  days,  and  the  little  grandson  felt  himself 
especially  charged  with  the  duty  of  introducing 
"my  new  mamma" — of  whom  he  was  already 
both  proud  and  fond,  to  the  whole  circle.  Mrs. 
Porter's  pleasure  in  the  addition  of  these  two 
daughters  to  the  household  was  very  apparent: 
one  of  them  she  had  known  and  loved  from  her 
childhood,  the  other  was  from  this  time  to  give 
her  not  only  daughterly  affection,  but  daughterly 
care.  Her  strongest  local  attachment  was  prob- 
ably now  to  Beloit,  she  had  never  lived  there,  only 
come  as  a  guest,  but  her  sons  and  daughter  had  all 
been  members  at  some  time  of  Prof.  Porter's 
family,  and  she  had  found  a  most  congenial  rest- 
ing place,  again  and  again,  in  that  beautifully 
ordered  Christian  home.  Chicago  had  so  greatly 
changed  since  the  fire  that  there  was  no  place  there 
which  held  for  her  so  many  dear  associations  as 
clustered  about  the  pretty  college  town,  so  it  was 
very  pleasant  that  the  whole  circle  could  once  more 
gather  here,  before  the  wide  scattering,  which  was 
to  be  the  last.  Immediately  after  the  wedding, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.   Porter  went  back  to   Fort   Russell. 


GARRISON  UFE 

The  daughter  returned  to  her  mission  field,  and  a 
few  months  later  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Porter  en- 
route  for  China,  reached  the  military  post.  They 
found  Mr.  Porter  very  unwell,  and  it  was  hastily 
decided  that  he  must  apply  for  sick  leave  and  ac- 
company the  travelers  to  the  Pacific  coast.  This 
was  thought  of  at  the  time  as  only  a  temporary 
move,  but  it  proved  the  end  of  his  service  with  the 
army,  as  he  was  never  able  to  return  to  Chaplain's 
duty. 

A  year  and  a  half  was  spent  in  California — six 
months  of  the  time  in  supplying  the  pulpit  of  a 
friend  in  Grass  Valley,  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Perkins. 
Mrs.  Porter  enjoyed  the  mild  climate  and  the 
beauty  of  orchard  and  vineyard  very  much,  but 
did  not  gain  strength  and  Mr.  Porter  was  little 
better  than  when  he  left  Fort  Russell.  Just  as 
they  were  ready  to  come  East,  Mrs.  Porter  had  an 
attack  of  fever  but  she  was  sure  that  the  journey 
would  not  injure  her,  and  for  many  reasons  it 
seemed  important  that  it  be  not  delayed.  A  state 
room  was  secured,  and  she  carried  in  arms,  like 
a  child,  to  her  berth.  They  telegraphed  from 
point  to  point  for  such  food  as  she  could  eat,  and 
the  long  trip  was  accomplished  without  harm  to  the 
invalid.  Mr.  Perkins  with  his  motherless  babe, 
which  had  been  Mrs.  Porter's  charge,  and  the  nurse 
accompanied  them    and  Mr.  Perkins  watched  over 


254  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

her  with  filial  care  until  she  was  met  by  her  own 
son  in  Chicago. 

Released  now  from  responsibility,  the  question 
of  a  home  for  their  declining  years  arose,  but  Mrs. 
Porter  shrank  so  from  the  cold  winters  of  the 
North,  and  was  so  desirous  of  spending  at  least  a 
part  of  each  year,  near  her  sons,  that  any  perma- 
nent resting  place  seemed  impractiable.  She  herself 
did  not  desire  it.  She  was  too  frail  for  household 
care  and  could  not  live  in  her  own  house  without 
it.  From  this  time,  therefore,  the  home  from 
which  they  came  and  went  was  that  of  the  son  in 
Detroit.  A  sunny  room,  with  a  bay-window  to  the 
south,  was  set  apart  as  theirs  and  here,  for  just  so 
many  months  of  the  year  as  they  could  safely 
spend  so  near  the  lake  shore  they  were  most  affec- 
tionately welcomed  and  tenderly  cared  for.  The 
Woodward  Avenue  Congregational  church,  of 
which  Dr.  Moses  Smith  was  pastor,  was  very  near. 
They  took  a  pew  there,  and  enjoyed  such  con- 
genial church  association  and  fellowship  as  they 
had  not  known  since  Mr.  Porter  gave  up  his  own 
pastoral  work  in  1861.  These  autumn  years  had 
upon  them  the  glow  of  Indian  summer  for  Mrs.  Por- 
ter, there  were  no  more  separations  from  her  hus- 
band, he  was  free  to  go  wherever  her  health  required. 
Her  pen  was  busy  with  her  large  correspondence, 
she  read  with   keen   interest   and   followed   many 


G/tRRlSON  UFB 

lines  of  benevolent  work,  with  thoughtful,  prayer- 
ful attention,  disbursed  her  own  and  other  gifts, 
and  visited  the  sick  and  suffering,  the  poor  and 
sin  burdened  After  she  was  gone  one  of  her  sons 
requested  from  Miss  Adams  of  Austin,  Texas, 
some  account  of  her  winters  there.  The  story  shows 
how  active  she  still  was  "About  her  Father's  busi- 
ness," Miss  Adams  goes  back  to  her  earlier  recol- 
lections of  Mrs.  Porter,  but  the  whole  may  be  fit- 
tingly inserted  here.      This    note  accompanied  it. 

"Dear  Mr  Porter:  — 

"I  am  sorry  to  have  been  so  tardy  in 
replying  to  your  request,  for  some  memories  of 
your  sainted  mother;  and  now  anything  that  I  can 
write  seems  such  a  faint  shadow  of  that  beloved 
character,  and  the  reality  of  that  life  service  for 
Christ  as  to  be  most  unsatisfactory.  It  is  a  bless- 
ing to  have  known  her  as  I  did." 

"Memories  of  Mrs.  Eliza  Chappell  Porter. 

Martha  J.  Adams. 

"During  1852-53,  I  taught  at  Green  Bay  and  had 
a  delightful  home  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Porter.  The  two  eldest  sons  were  at  Hadley  at 
school.  Charlotte,  Henry,  and  Mary,  were  my 
pupils  while  dear  little  Robbie  was  the  pet  of  the 
household.  Miss  Caroline  Porter,  Joseph  Curtis, 
and  a  part  of  the  time  Katherine  Marsh  and  Ellen 
McNiel,  were  members  of   the  family       I    remem- 


256  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

ber  so  well  the  cheerful  devotion  of  Mrs.  Porter 
to  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  this  large  family, 
and  her  words  and  deeds  of  kindness  and  sympathy 
for  all,  especially  do  I  recall  her  warm  and  loving 
sympathy  with  childhood,  the  joyous  Saturdays  of 
the  children  at  home.  Often  Mary  Tank  came  to 
spend  the  day  and  marvelous  tableaux  she  and 
Charlotte  would  arrange  in  the  little  room  next  the 
mother's,  with  her  full  and  cordial  approval  of 
their  girlish  merriment. 

"I  recall  too  how  on  Sabbath  mornings  during 
that  cold  winter  a  man  would  arrive  at  an  early 
hour  in  a  wide  sleigh,  from  some  miles  out  to  take 
Mrs.  Porter,  where  she  had  a  Sunday  school  in  an 
ignorant  and  destitute  settlement.  How  wrapped 
in  a  warm  shawl,  with  hot  bricks  at  her  feet,  against 
many  protests,  she  would  bravely  go  to  tell  of 
Jesus,  returning  just  in  time  to  lunch  and  dress 
for  the  afternoon  service  at  church  at  which  she  ap- 
peared the  refined  graceful  Christian  lady. 

"In  1883,  I  was  engaged  in  teaching  and  general 
missionary  work  among  the  colored  people  at  Aus- 
tin, Texas.  I  was  keeping  house  in  a  very  quiet 
way  in  the  'Gillett  mansion,'  a  large  and  some- 
what dilapidated  house — the  other  part  of  it  being 
occupied  by  Rev.  G.  W.  Richardson,  a  M.  E. 
minister  and  his  wife.  In  the  autumn,  I  received 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  Porter,  saying    that  for  health's 


GARRISON  LI  hi: 

sake  they  wished  to  spend  the  winter  in  the  South, 
and  inquiring  if  [could  arrange  for  them  to  be  with 
me,  and  if  there  was  work  for  the  Master  that 
they  could  do. 

"More  rooms  were  rented  in  the  house.  Our 
black  Georgia  came  to  help  us  keep  house  and 
here  we  spent  a  pleasant  and  useful  six  months. 
Mrs.  Porter  at  once  became  deeply  interested  in 
my  work  and  for  the  lowly  ones  all  about  us. 
She  often  went  with  me  to  Aunt  Delilah's  cabin 
where  a  few  women  would  gather,  leaving  their 
wash-tubs  long  enough  for  a  Bible  reading  and 
prayer-meeting,  and  I  used  to  think  her  words 
were  to  them  almost  like  a  voice  from  heaven. 
The  little  children  in  the  neighborhood  soon  learn- 
ed to  watch  for  her  as  their  friend.  I  recall  one 
little  waif  by  the  name  of  Fanny — she  was  very 
dull,  her  mother  was  indifferent  to  her — but  morn- 
ing after  morning  Mrs.  Porter  would  have  her  come 
to  her  room  and  with  the  utmost  patience  and  toil, 
try  to  teach  her  to  read,  and  when  remonstrated 
with  for  giving  so  much  of  her  strength  to  the 
child — she  would  reply:  'The  child  must  learn  to 
read.'  She  seemed  to  see  in  every  little  child  no 
matter  how  forlorn  or  repulsive,  an  immortal  soul 
to  be  made  fit  for  the  redeemer's  jewels. 

"At  Austin  there  was  apart  of  the  city  two  miles 
from  us, inhabited  by  ignorant  and  degraded  Whites, 


258  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

Mexicans,  and  Negroes,  where  no  Christian  work 
was  done, — her  heart  yearned  to  do  something  for 
them—  at  last  we  obtained  permission  to  use  an 
old  stone-store,  at  that  time  used  for  a  school  for 
the  Mexicans,  in  which  to  open  a  'Live  Oak'  Sun- 
day school  for  the  colored  children.  A  room  in 
the  rear,  with  the  roughest  of  stone-floors  and  the 
blackest  of  rough  timbers  over  head,  she  wanted 
in  which  to  gather  the  little  children.  She  con- 
sulted a  carpenter  living  opposite  to  us  about  mak- 
ing seats  for  the  little  ones  —a  kind  of  gallery  with 
several  rows  of  benches  one  above  another — he  told 
her  that  he  could  furnish  the  lumber,  that  his  men 
could  make  the  seats  and  so  forth.  Then  on  Satur- 
day night  his  wife  came  with  a  bright  look  upon 
her  face  to  say  that  the  gallery  was  done  and 
placed  in  the  house — and  that  there  was  no  bill  to 
present.  So  much  did  Mrs.  Porter's  enthusiasm 
communicate  itself  to  himself  and  wife.  Here  upon 
this  gallery  she  would  have  a  multitude  of  little 
black  children  packed  as  close  as  their  little  wrig- 
gling bodies  would  permit.  I  seem  to  see  her 
standing  before  them  in  that  rude  room  upon  that 
rough  floor,  her  beautiful  eyes  beaming,  her  whole 
face  illumined  with  love  while  every  eye  was 
fastened  upon  her  face  as  she  taught  them  of  God 
and  His  law,  of  Jesus  and  His  love. 

"It  was  wonderful  the  deep  impression  she  made 


GARRISON  UFE  MO 

upon  those  children's  minds  and  hearts;  they  still 
remember  her  most  lovingly  now,  and  when  the 
hymn,  'Jesus  the  water  of  life  can  give'  or  'When 
the  cometh,  when  he  cometh,  to  make  up  His 
jewels,'  is  sung  their  faces  will  brighten,  and  they 
will  say,  'Mrs.  Porter  taught  us  that.'  Soon  after 
we  heard  she  had  entered  into  rest,  two  little  girls 
who  were  among  the  smallest  that  used  to  sit  upon 
that  little  gallery,  were  told  that  their  dear  teacher 
had  gone  to  heaven  and  asked  what  they  remem- 
bered that  she  had  taught  them,  without  hesitation 
replied,  'Blessed  are  they  that  do  His  command- 
ments that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life 
and  may  enter  in  through  the  gates  into  the  city.' 

"I  remember  too, that  during  this  winter  of  1S83- 
84  she  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of 
the  use  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools  of  our 
country;  much  time,  thought,  letter  writing  to  per- 
sons of  influence  and  conversation  did  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Porter  give  to  this  subject. 

"In  November,  1884,  returning  to  Austin,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Porter  accompanied  me.  Her  loving 
Christian  spirit  manifested  itself  in  traveling.  I 
remember  her  warm  personal  interest  in  the  trav- 
elers, especially  in  such  as  seemed  to  be  in  need 
of  sympathy  and  comfort,  and  always  a  kindly 
word  for  the  Master. 

"At  this   time   she  was   deeply  interested   about 


260  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

starting  a  kindergarten  for  the  little  children  at 
Austin.  My  home  was  now  at  Tillotson  Inst.,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  came  to  board  quite  near,  at 
Judge  C.  T.  Garland's.  A  colored  settlement  near 
known  as  Masontown  seemed  a  desirable  place  to 
begin  one;  day  after  day,  either  with  Mr.  Porter 
or  myself,  she  sought  but  in  vain  for  a  vacant 
room  of  any  kind  in  which  to  gather  the  little  ones. 
After  patient  search  a  small,  rude  cabin  was 
found,  rented,  and  here  Mrs.  Porter  and  myself 
began  to  meet  the  children  for  a  time  in  the  morn- 
ing. She  hoped  after  a  time  to  secure  a  regular 
teacher,  but  Mrs.  Porter  took  cold  and  many  rea- 
sons made  her  think  the  time  was  not  fully  come 
for  that.  In  this  house  we  opened  a  Sabbath  school 
which  was  at  once  filled  with  the  children  and 
young  people  of  the  community.  God  greatly 
blessed  the  school;  the  place  became  entirely  too 
strait  for  us  and  it  was  a  question  for  much  thought 
and  prayer  how  we  could  enlarge  our  cabin,  think- 
ing we  had  little  or  no  money  to  use..  At  length 
Mrs.  Porter  with  her  characteristic  faith  and  en- 
ergy exclaimed,  'Why  not  devise  liberal  things? 
why  not  arise  and  build?'  The  effect  was  electri- 
cal as  she  so  often  seemed  to  infuse  her  own 
spirit  of  work  into  others.  At  length  the  lot,  the 
generous  gift  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  was  bought. 
God  moved  the  hearts  of   others   to   give,  so   that 


GARRISON  LIFE  M 

in  July  1SS5,  an  attractive  Little  chapel  was  ready 
and  entered  by  our  Masontown  Sabbath  School,  and 
consecrated  to  Christian  work.  'Porter  Chapel' 
stands  as  a  memorial  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jeremiah 
Porter's  Christian  love  and  their  interest  in  the 
colored  people. 

"When  the  tidings  came  that  Mrs.  Porter  had 
entered  into  rest,  they  were  deeply  moved  and 
felt  that  they  had  all  lost  a  dear  personal  friend. 
Her  last  message  to  them  sent  in  the  last  letter  she 
wrote,  Dec.  23rd,  to  me  was  'Tell  the  children  and 
parents  at  Masontown  to  give  their  hearts  to  God 
and  to  live  as  Christians. '  This  message  was 
copied,  framed  and  now  hangs  upon  the  wall  and 
is  repeated  often  by  the  children   and  parents. 

"A  tender  memorial  service  was  held,  and  most 
loving  tributes  paid  to  her  memory — while  her 
name  is  sacredly  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  all  who 
knew  her  there. 

"Mrs.  Porter's  life  was  truly  a  life  in  Christ,  a 
walk  with  God,  a  life  of  prayer;  how  often,  as  I 
have  sat  talking  with  her  upon  some  subject,  she 
would  say  'Let  us  kneel  right  down  here,  and  | 
about  it.'  She  always  seemed  so  unconsciously 
to  impress  others,  that  she  was  a  child  of  God, 
and  they  saw  a  beauty  in  her  religion. 

"A  gentleman  at  Austin,  who  only  -aw  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  P.  at  church  remarked.  'Don't  those  two  peo- 


262  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

pie  look  as   if   they  were   just   ready  to   step   into 
heaven.' 

"With  an  irresistible  grace  Mrs  Porter  attracted 
young  people  to  her — her  dainty  dress  to  the  last, 
her  fresh  young  spirit,  her  loving  sympathy,  her 
conversation  cheerful,  yet  full  of  Christ  all  were 
a  wonderful  charm  about  her." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

INDIAN  SUMMER 

In  June  1885  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter,  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding,  Dr.  Moses  Smith  was  present 
and  gave  a  brief  address.  His  account  of  the  an- 
niversary, with  the  exception  of  its  historical  sketch, 
which  was  written  and  published  at  the  time  with  a 
brief  extract  from  a  Chicago  paper,  give  the  points 
of  special  interest.  A  volume  of  the  letters  received 
from  friends  who  could  not  accept  the  invitation 
to  Detroit,  in  Mr.  Porter's  possession,  shows  how 
reverently  and  gratefully,  many  hearts  turned  to- 
ward the  bride  and  bridegroom  of  fifty  years. 

"Only  one  golden  wedding  may  be  celebrated  in 
a  life  time.      One  'all  gold'  may  be  told  of  to-day. 

"If  there  is  a  name  in  the  whole  family  of  Christ 
on  earth  more  often  and  more  lovingly  spoken 
than  any  other,  that  name  is  Jeremiah  Porter; 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter. 

"They  who  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their 
strength  so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  these  who 
were  used  of  God  in  early  life  at  the  East,  and  dur- 
ing middle  life  around    the    lakes    of    the    Interior, 

868 


2G4  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

have  later  been  allowed  to  teach  and  preach  Christ 
in  almost  all  the  south  and  west;  literally  from 
'the  Old  Bay  state1  to  'the  Golden  Gate,'  from 
'the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf,'  to  white  men  and  black 
men,  to  Indians  and  Chinese,  to  Mexicans  and 
Mormons,  they  have  'preached  everywhere,  the 
Lord  working  with  them  and  confirming  the  word 
with  signs  following. '  And  as  if  this  had  been  a 
small  thing  to  preach  in  their  own  persons  across 
this  continent,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Porter  in  the  per- 
sons of  two  beloved  children  are  moving  in  the 
vast  empire  of  China.  Mary  H.,  who  went  in 
1868  and  Henry  D.,  M.  D.,  who  went  in  1872, 
and  is,  both  from  his  profession  as  doctor  and  as 
resulting  from  his  work  during  the  late  famine,  al- 
most a  veritable  Joseph  among  the  many  millions 
of  the  province  of  Shantung. 

"Rev.  and  Mrs.  Porter  have  two  sons  in  this 
country,  one,  Edwards  W.,  in  the  Methodist  church 
at  Detroit,  the  other,  James  W.,  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Chicago.  They  have  already  sent 
five  of  their  children  to  the  better  country,  the 
heavenly,  and  are  themselves  as  eager  as  ever  in 
bringing  forth  fruit  for  Christ  in  their  old  age. 

"As  might  have  been  expected  the  golden  wed- 
ding was  absolutely  unique.  It  was  indescribably 
beautiful.  Mr.  Porter  stands  erect,  has  an  elas- 
tic step,  clear  bright  eye  and  pleasant  voice;  Mrs. 


INDIAN  SUMMER 

Porter's  natural  brown  hair  is  untouched   by  f: 
her  mind  remarkably  full  in  all  scripture  aptn< 
"They  received  their  friends  on  the   evenin 

the  i  5th  of  Jane,  in  the  beautiful  b<  ime  of  their 
Edwards  [Winder  St.,  Detroit)  themselves  stand- 
ing under  an  arch  of  smilax  with   the   dates  '1X35- 

■;'  in  green  and  roses  over  them.      'No  \  1 
ents, '    went    out    with    all    invitations,    but    floral 
tributes,  and   hosts   of   charming   letters   from    all 
parts  of  the  land   and   the  world,  marked   the    oc- 
casion. 

"Among  the  letters  may  be  specially  mentioned 
those  from  the  army,  from  the  First  church  (Presby- 
terian) of  Chicago,  from  the  American  Board  Bos- 
ton, from  the  Woman's  Board  Chicago,  and  from 
the  children  in  China.  Upon  the  wall  there  hung  a 
tablet  from  the  native  Christians  of  a  village  in 
Shantung.  This  scroll  of  honor,  as  translated,  con- 
veys to  'Porter  the  elder,  the  honored,  the  great 
person,  myriad  happinesses  and  eternal  longevity. ' 
An  eider-down  quilt  from  China  represented  both 
in  the  weaving  of  the  silk,  in  the  needlework,  em- 
blems of  length  of  days  and  felicity.  A  rich  satin 
dressing  gown  from  Japan  was  admirably  becom- 
ing the  still  faithful  Home  missionary.  And  a  fan 
in  Mrs.  Porter's  hand  containing   in    Chinese  the 

twenty-third    psalm    was    yet    more     in      spiritual 
keeping. 


266  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

Delightful  reminiscences  gave  rich  point  to  scrip- 
ture promises.  One  of  the  sons  told  how  from 
their  earliest  remembrance  the  children  had  always 
remarked  that  mother's  plans  always  strangely, 
'came  out  all  right. '  She  formed  them  all  for  God 
and  dark  or  light  the  end  came  to  pass.  Master 
Ned,  the  one  grandchild  in  America  presented 
to  the  happy  pair  the  love  and  golden  wishes  of 
himself  and  the  two  cousins  in  China.  One  of  the 
city  pastors  referred  to  God's  marvelous  works 
since  they  had  been  co-workers,  and  proffered  in 
the  name  of  all  the  hope  that  the  radiance  already 
gilding  the  western  sky  may  only  become  richer, 
more  golden,  until  they  may  walk  hand  in  hand  the 
streets  all  gold,  to  go  no  more  out  forever.  Then 
Mr.  Porter  sweetly  responded  saying  that  all  these 
fifty  years  he  had  owed,  next  to  Christ,  most  to 
her  who  out  of  weakness  had  been  so  strong  in 
faith  and  love;  telling  also  how  he  first  found  her 
at  Mackinaw  studying  her  Bible  and  that  had  been 
her  daily  food  ever  since;  and  then  of  the  three 
parts  of  their  happy  family,  in  America  and  be- 
fore them,  in  the  celestial  empire  across  the  Pa- 
cific, and  the  celestial  kingdom  on  high. 

"After  the  collation,  prayers,  'Blest  be  the  tie,' 
sung,  one  more  word  must  be  heard  from  the  land 
of  Sinim;  Rev.  Henry  D.  Porter,  M.  D.,  to  his 
parents  on  their  golden  wedding: 


IblDMN  SUMMER 

"We  send  a  thousand  golden  kisses, 

O'er  a  thousand  golden  miles, 

Shot  from  end  to  end  with  sunbeams, 

Over-wreathed  with  loves  and  smiles. 

We  are  thinking  of  the  gladness 
Treasured  in  your  youthful  hearts; 

We  rebel  against  the  distance, 

Oceans  wide,  which  hides  and  parts. 

Yesterday  the  wind  in  blowing 

Scattered  o'er  us  yellow  dust. 
Out  of  yellow  skies  it  flurried, 

Hid  us  with  its  yellow  crust. 

From  the  dust  I  catch  the  symbol, 

Waft  it  far  beyond  the  seas; 
You  shall  find  it  with  its  message 

Switfly  borne  by  Asia's  breeze. 

All  these  yellow  flecks  are  golden, 
Flurried  down  from  yellow  skies; 

They  shall  meet  you  on  the  morrow, 
Cover  with  a  sweet  surprise. 

This  is  star  dust.      Did  you  know  it? 

Star  dust  from  celestial  spheres. 
Thus  the  spirits  now  reward  you 

For  these  loves  of  fifty  years. 

Rarest  love  of  man  and  woman; 

God  Himself  rewards  its  test, 
Showers  down  His  treasures  golden, 

Gives  you  of  His  grace  the  best." 

"The  friends  gathered  about  8  o'clock,  and  were 
received  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  W.  Porter,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  bride  and  groom  of  fifty  years  by  Mr. 
James  W.  Porter  and  Mrs.  Judge  E.    S    Williams. 


2(58  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

They  stood  to  receive  the  congratulations  of  the 
guests.  The  beautiful  brown  hair  of  the  bride  was 
untouched  by  frost  and  uncovered  by  cap.  Her 
only  ornament  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit.  The  gift 
of  the  groom,  the  devotion  of  fifty  years.  Over 
their  heads  were  the  dates  wrought  in  roses,  1835- 
1885.  The  beautiful  floral  offerings  of  friends, 
and  the  many  curiosities  sent  year  by  year  from 
the  son  and  daughter  in  China,  noticeably  a  Chi- 
nese birthday  scroll  to  Mrs.  Porter  from  the  native 
Christians  of  one  of  the  mission  stations  in  Shan- 
tung Province,  converted  the  three  spacious  rooms 
into  a  very  bower  of  beauty.  Presents  had  been 
prohibited,  but  as  the  sound  of  the  marriage  bells 
was  heard  here  and  there,  the  love  of  some  of  the 
friends  could  find  expression  only  in  rare  gifts. 
An  exquisitely  cut  cameo  portrait  of  Mr.  Porter, 
came  from  one  of  the  sons  to  Mrs.  Porter,  and 
from  another  the  author's  edition  of  the  revised 
Bible. 

During  this  year  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Arthur  Smith, 
and  their  children  were  in  this  country  on  a  va- 
cation. In  the  autumn  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  ac- 
companied them  to  California  when  they  spent  the 
winter  at  Los  Angeles  and  Pasadena.  Both  were 
very  feeble,  and  it  seemed  plain  to  these  and  other 
friends  that  they  needed  the  companionship  and 
care  of  their  only  daughter,  if  they  must  make  fre- 


INDIAN  SUMMER 

quent  changes  of  residence,  and  from  year  to  year, 
find  new  resting  places  for  the  winters.  Mrs.  Por- 
ter had  accepted  every  thing  demanded  of  her  step 
by  step  cheerfully,  had  given  without  reserve. 
Could  she  now  allow,  for  her  own  sake,  the  crip- 
pling of  a  mission  station  when  every  worker  was 
needed?  As  she  saw  her  husband's  failing  strength 
she  acquiesced  in  the  judgment  of  her  friends,  but 
when  an  appeal  from  Boston  again  emphasized  the 
claims  of  the  opening  field  abroad,  she  wrote  with- 
drawing her  consent  to  her  daughter's  return.  It 
was  only  after  months  of  vacillation,  so  unlike  her 
usual  prompt  decisiveness  when  asked  to  relinquish 
anything  for  the  good  of  others,  that  she  was  per- 
suaded that  this  should  be,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1886,  they  met  in  Oakland.  After  a  summer  in 
Detroit,  the  autumn  found  the  three  in  Chicago, 
on  their  way  to  Tampa,  Florida,  for  the  winter. 
It  had  been  the  family  custom  during  all  the  years 
in  which  they  were  together  as  a  household,  that 
each  child  should  learn  a  hymn  on  Sunday  and  re- 
peat it  at  evening  worship  while  others  present  led 
with  those  already  familiar.  As  Mrs.  Porter  came 
to  have  leisure,  she  adopted  the  habit  of  commit- 
ting a  hymn,  or  portion  of  one  each  week,  and  it 
was  one  of  her  special  pleasures  to  surprise  her 
eldest  son  when  they  met  with  some  fresh  treasure 
for  the  Sabbath  twilight,  and   almost  every  Christ- 


270  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

mas  brought  her  from  him  some  illustrated  hymn, 
or  volume  containing  a  poem,  made  dear  to  them 
by  such  association.  Mrs.  Porter  used  to  say  with 
a  smile,  'Old  people  cannot  commit  to  memory? 
My  mind  is  not  old  and  shall  not  grow  sluggish  for 
lack  of  use — of  course  it  will  not  work  unless  I 
make  it,  but  then,  it  never  would.  It  is  less  a 
matter  of  years  than  of  purpose." 

So  to  the  end  she  required  of  it  response  to  hei 
will,  entrusted  it  with  many  passages  of  scripture, 
and  learned  not  a  few  sacred  hymns  or  poems 
when  she  was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age.  The 
thanksgiving  feast  was  enjoyed  that  year  at  Mrs. 
Blatchford's  where  Mrs.  Porter  was  always  an 
honored  guest,  beloved  by  parents  and  children. 
After  the  dinner  as  we  sat  in  the  family  room,  a 
young  lady  friend,  a  trained  elocutionist,  was  asked 
to  repeat  Whittier's  'Pumpkin  Pie,'  which  she  did 
to  the  great  pleasure  of  the  circle.  When  she 
finished  Mr.  Porter  said  to  his  wife,  'You  have  a 
poem  of  Whittier's  which  I  think  they  would  like 
to  hear. '  Mrs.  Porter  shook  her  head,  but  Mrs. 
Blatchford  had  caught  the  word  and  came  forward 
with,  'Oh  yes!  Auntie  Porter,  do  give  it  to  us.' 
The  room  was  filled  with  the  family  party — the 
portraits  of  the  dear  parents  of  Mrs.  Blatchford, 
and  of  some  of  those  present  as  they  were  when 
she  first  knew  them  looked   down  upon  her.      She 


INDIAN  SUMMER  ft] 

sat  in  a  great  easy  chair  in  the  bay  window  leaning 
forward,  just  a  little  hesitant  and  embarrassed, 
then  began  in  that  clear  sympathetic  voice,  aevei 
apparently  loud,  but  heard  distinctly  in  any  room 
in  which  she  used  it,    and  repeated. 

MY    BIRTHDAY. 

"Beneath  the  moonlight  and  the  snow 
Lies  dead  my  latest  year; 
The  winter  winds  are  wailing  low 
Its  dirges  in  my  ear. 

I  grieve  not  with  the  moaning  wind 

As  if  a  loss  befell; 
Before  me,  even  as  behind 

God  is,  and  all  is  well! 

His  light  shines  on  me  from  above 
His  low  voice  speaks  within, — 

The  patience  of  immortal  love 
Out  wearying  mortal  sin  — 

Not  mindless  of  the  growing  years 

Of  care  and  loss  and  pain, 
My  eyes  are  wet  with  thankful   tears 

For  blessings  which  remain, 

If  dim  the  gold  of  life  has  grown 

I  will  not  count  it  dross, 
Nor  turn  from  treasures  still  my  own 

To  sigh  for  lack  and  loss — 

The  years  no  charm  from  nature  take 

As  sweet  her  voices  call 
As  beautiful  her  mornings  break 

As  fair  her  evenings  fall. 


272  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

Love  watches  o'er  my  quiet  ways 
Kind  voices  speak  my  name 

And  lips  that  find  it  hard  to  praise 
Are  slow,  at  least,  to  blame. 

How  softly  ebb  the  tides  of  will! 

How  fields,  once  lost  and  won, 
Now  lie  behind  me  green  and  still 

Beneath  a  level  sun  ! 

Methinks  the  spirit's  temper  grows 

Too  soft  in  this  still  air; 
Somewhat  the  wistful  heart  foregoes 

Of  needed  watch  and  prayer. 

The  bark  by  tempest  vainly  tossed 

May  founder  in  the  calm 
And  he  who  braved  the  polar  frost 

Faint  by  the  isles  of  balm. 

Better  than  self  indulgent  years 
The  outflung  heart  of  youth, 

Than  pleasant  songs  in  idle  years 
The  tumult  of  the  truth. 

Rest  for  the  weary  hands  is  good, 
And  love  for  hearts  that  pine, 

But  let  the  manly  habitude 
Of  upright  souls  be  mine. 

Let  winds  that  blow  from  heaven  refresh 

Dear  Lord, the  languid  air 
And  let  the  weakness  of  the  flesh 

Thy  strength  of  spirit  share. 

And  if  the  eye  must  fail  of  light 

The  ear  forget  to  hear 
Make  clearer  still  the  spirit's  sight 

More  fine  the  inward  ear! 


1NDMN  SUMMER 

Be  near  me  in  mine  hours  of  need 

To  soothe  or  cheer  or  warn 
And  down  these  slopes  of  sunset  lead 

As  up  the  hills  of  morn!  — " 

When  she  reached  the  last  lines  her  right  hand. 
which  showed  weariness  or  excitement  first,  trem- 
bled painfully,  but  her  voice  was  steady  and  clear 
to  the  end  and  her  eyes  were  perhaps  the  only 
ones  in  the  room  not  dimmed  by  tears.  For  a 
moment  the  silence  was  almost  oppressive,  and  it 
was  a  relief  when  a  sweet  impulsive  woman  slipped 
her  arm  about  Mrs.  Porter  and,  with  a  kiss,  ex- 
claimed "Oh!  you  dear  saint  how  we  thank  you!" 
She  was  in  the  beautiful  home  but  once  after  that, 
but  many  times  the  scene  has  come  before  those 
who  heard  that  wonderful  prayer  of  old  age  since 
she  went  up  the  fairer  "Hills  of  morn"  on  the  other 
side. 

At  Tampa,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  found  a  singular 
mingling  of  the  South  and  North  in  the  old  town, 
filling  up  rapidly  with  New  England  people.  The 
wife  of  the  pastor,  Rev.  Sidney  Crawford,  was  a 
lovely  woman,  as  strong  of  spirit  as  frail  of  body, 
and  she  and  Mrs.  Porter  enjoyed  much  each  other's 
society,  as  they  were  at  the  same  table  although 
not  rooming  in  the  same  house.  Mrs.  Porter's 
deepest  interest  here  was  in  a  settlement  of  Cubans 
at  Ybor  City,  a  mile  or  more  from  Tampa,  wli 
uncared  for  intellectual  and  spiritual  condition  up- 


274  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

pressed  her.  Scarcely  able  to  bear  any  fatigue, 
she  went  down  to  the  tobacco  manufacturing  vil- 
lage and  made  inquiry  as  to  the  possibility  of  secur- 
ing a  room  for  a  school  there,  and  tried  to  find 
some  place  in  which  she  could  board.  When  re- 
minded how  little  strength  she  had  to  meet  the  dis- 
comforts of  such  surroundings  she  replied,  *  *  All 
those  children  without  instruction!  I  am  sure  we 
could  do  something."  In  Feburary, however, the  heat 
drove  Mr.  and  Mrs..  Porter  farther  North  and  she 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  neglected  Cubans  for 
others  to  care  for.  Among  the  acquaintances  made 
at  Tampa,  was  that  of  a  Mrs.  Allen,  an  elderly 
lady  from  Philadelphia  who  was  one  of  those  killed 
in  the  accident  on  the  "Old  Colony  road"  three 
years  later.  A  letter  received  from  her  at  the  time 
of  Mrs.  Porter's  death  gives  her  impressions  of  her, 
and  an  account  of  their  last  interview  which  will 
illustrate  how,  every  where  and  always,  Mrs.  Por- 
ter was  giving  out  of  her  own  rich  experience  to 
help  other  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  the  Celestial 
city. 

"The  dear  blessed  mother  gone! 

"How  I  loved  her!  how  I  longed  and  hoped  to 
meet  her  once  more.  Her  sweetness  of  heart,  her 
simplicity,  her  saintliness  and  Christ-like  loveli- 
ness. All,  all  the 'Beauty'  that  He  'Her  Lord' 
had  put  upon  her,  all  her  fascinations  were  so  dear 


INDIAN  SUMMER 

to  me!  I  shall  never  see  her  like  again.  Was  my 
last  visit  a  gift  from  Heaven5  Surely  it  was.  I 
went  home  through  the  long  street  of  Tampa,  in 
the  early  evening  twilight  after  an  unexpe< 
visit  with  herself  alone,  on  which  occasion  she  had 
been  led  into  a  recital  of  wonderful  experience  of 
grace  so  full  of  interest  and  profit  to  me  and  never 
to  be  forgotten.  There  was  a  presentiment  that 
this  blessed  visit  which  I  had  enjoyed  with  her  was 
a  heavenly  benediction  given  me  as  a  farewell  to 
the  beloved  saint.  .  .  Well!  Most  blessed 
mother!  I  give  thanks  that  I  knew  her  even  so 
little,  and  how  thankful  I  am  for  that  dear  farewell 
visit."  At  the  hotel  in  the  pretty  little  town  of 
Interlachen  a  few  weeks  were  spent,  then  a  month 
or  more  in  Macon,  Georgia..  The  journey  north- 
ward was  made  by  stages,  with  a  tarry  here  and 
there,  until  Prairie  du  Cnien  was  reached  in  the 
early  summer.  Here  Mrs.  Porter  looked  over  let- 
ters and  goods  stored  in  1869,  when  the  house  was 
rented  and  arrangements  were  made  for  the  dispo- 
sition of  nearly  all  that  remained  of  family  posses- 
sions. The  cousins  from  the  familiar  Beloit  home 
were  going  east  for  the  college  vacation  and  offered 
the  use  of  their  house.  For  a  few  delightful  weeks 
Mr.  and  Mrs  Porter  were  there,  near  enough  to 
Chicago,  for  frequent  visits  from  the  eldest  son. 
Housekeeping  without  care  to  the  frail  mother,  yet 


276  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

she  could  entertain  her  friends  and  be  once  more 
as  hostess.  Several  old  friends  were  with  her  as 
guests,  to  her  great  joy.  The  love  of  all  natural 
beauty,  had  grown  with  the  years.  Failing  strength, 
especially  failing  hearing,  shut  her  out  from  many 
interests  but  she  was  never  more  happily  occupied 
than  during  these  months.  She  wrote  many  let- 
ters, read  aloud  and  listened  to  reading,  for  she 
never  had  any  difficulty  in  hearing  her  husband's 
clear  tones — and  spent  hours  watching  the  birds 
from  the  windows.  It  was  a  summer  of  drought, 
and  basins  of  water  were  placed  under  the  trees 
for  her  feathered  and  furry  friends.  These  she 
would  fill  and  refill,  and  grew  to  know  the  individ- 
ual robins,  jays,  and  squirrels,  which  frequented 
them.  During  this  summer  also  she  wrote  the 
"Message  to  the  Woman  of  Wisconsin"  for  the  State 
Home  Missionary  Union  which  was  published  as  a 
leaflet  and  will  be  found  in  the  appendix  of  this 
volume.  Mrs.  Prof.  Emerson  says  in  a  letter 
written  after  Mrs.  Porter    was    gone. 

"You  know  how  readily  your  mother  responded 
to  the  request  to  write  us  such  a  message,  but  I  want 
to  tell  you  of  the  August  evening  when  she  put 
it  into  my  hands  completed.  You  will  remember 
that  you  took  your  father  and  my  husband  to  the 
parlor,  leaving  us  in  the  sitting-room.  As  you  left 
the  room,  the  door  bell  rang  and  she  invited  me  to 


INDIAN  SUMMl.R 

her  own  room,  saying:     'We  shall  be  interrupted 

here,  and  I  must  see  you  alone.'  There  in  the 
alcove  of  her  room  she  read  with  unwonted  en- 
and  feeling  even  f<>r  her,  her  MSS.  to  me.  Her 
soul  was  so  in  her  reading  that  I  could  but  wish 
she  were  able  to  go  to  Whitewater  and  read  it 
there.  She  afterward  counted  out  to  me  Mrs. 
Tank's  money,  apportioning  it  as  she  desired  to 
various  Home  Missionary  departments,  speaking 
as  she  did  so  with  her  usual  intelligence  and  unu- 
sual feeling  about  each.  She  then  in  a  prompt 
business  way  asked  for  a  receipt  for  the  same  writ- 
ten at  her  dictation,  as  she  seemed  exceedingly  de- 
sirous the  funds  should  go  through  the  right  chan- 
nels, and  delicately  conscientious  to  meet  Mrs. 
Tank's  preferences  as  to  its  disposal. 

When  this  was  done  her  talk  was  like  one  in- 
spired about  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  of  Right- 
eousness to  be  established  in  the  whole  earth.  'Now 
being  established'  she  said,  'through  just  such  feeble 
agencies  as  we  are  here  using. '  She  asked  for 
prayer  over  the  message  and  the  money,  and  as  she 
prayed  her  faith,  transcendent,  seemed  to  me  to 
take  all  the  world  and  all  its  sin  redeemed  to  a 
life  of  Christian  activity  here  and  a  heaven  of  love 
and  purity  hereafter.'  The  interview  left  me  with 
such  a  feeling  of  buoyancy  and  certainty  as  to  the 
speedy    and   complete   triumph  of   the    right.    You 


278  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

will  notice  that  there  are  over  twenty  distinct  quo- 
tations from  scripture  in  this  little  leaflet,  and  that 
all  its  language,  nearly,  is  that  of  the  Bible." 
Another  friend,  Mrs.  A.  L.  Chapin  writes  of  this 
time.  'I  find  my  thoughts  continually  going  back 
to  the  happiness  of  last  summer,  with  our  joy  in 
your  mother's  presence.  .  .  How  vivid  is  the 
impression  of  her  as  we  were  favored  to  see  her, 
on  the  lawn,  or  coming  from  her  room  to  greet  us, 
or  moving  gracefully  from  one  to  another  as  we 
talked,  not  sitting  quietly  to  receive  the  homage  we 
should  so  gladly  have  paid.  Do  you  remember 
one  day,  just  before  the  other  family  returned, 
her  quick,  light  step  as  she  went  to  the  table  for  a 
Bible  and  the  rather  amused  smile  (how  shall  I 
describe  it)  ?  with  which  she  handed  it  to  Mr.  Chap- 
in  saying  she  was  still  the  hostess,  and  it  became 
her  to  attend  to  family  worship?'  Another  dear 
friend,  in  the  same  circle,  looking  back  to  that  and 
her  other  sojourns  in  Beloit,  says:  "To  me  your 
mother  was  always  a  'strengthening  angel'  giving 
to  my  weakness  and  very  limited  sphere  of  work 
such  hope  and  cheer  and  encouragement  as  no  one 
else  could  give.  .  .  Ever  since  she  went  with- 
in the  veil  the  beautiful  lines  of  Longfellow  have 
been  in  my  mind  as  fitting  tribute  to  such   a   life. 

"To  thee  death's 
Only  a  step  into  the  open  air 


INDIAN  SUMMl.K 

Out  of  a  tent  always  luminous 
With  light  that  shines  through 
Its  transparent  walls"  — 

From  Beloit  Mrs.  Porter  went  in  early  Septem- 
ber to  Detroit,  for  her  last  visit  in  that  home.  It 
was  her  plan  to  return  to  Chicago,  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  In- 
terior in  October,  but  a  threatening  of  pneumonia 
the  week  before  prevented,  and  she  sent  them  her 
message  by  another.  It  was  in  the  Master's 
words.. 

"Whatsoever  He  saith  unto  you,  do  it,"  with  an 
earnest  plea  that  in  His  strength  the  society  plan 
for  and  attempt  great  things. 


CHATPER  XIX 

THE  LAST    DAYS 

ABIDE    WITH    ME 

"Abide  with  us,  for  it  is  toward  evening,and  the  day  is  far  spent.' 
— Luke  xxvi,  29. 

Abide  with  me,  fast  falls  the  eventide; 

The  darkness  deepens,  Lord,  with  me  abide; 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 

Help  of  the  helpless,  O  abide  with  me. 

Swift  to  its  close  ebbs  out  life's  little  day; 

Earth's  joys  grow  dim,  its  glories  pass  away; 
Change  and  decay  in  all  around  I  see, 

0  Thou  Who  changest  not,  abide  with  me. 

I  need  Thy  presence  every  passing  hour; 

What  bat  Thy  grace  can  foil  the  tempter's  power? 
Who  like  Thyself  my  guide  and  stay  can  be? 

Through  cloud  and  sunshine,  Lord,  abide  with  me. 

I  fear  no  foe  with  Thee  at  hand  to  bless; 

Ills  have  no  weight,  and  tears  no  bitterness; 
Where  is  death's  sting?     Where,  grave,  thy  victory? 

1  triumph  still,  if  Thou  abide  with  me. 

Hold  Thou  Thy  Cross  before  my  closing  eyes; 

Shine  through  the  gloom, and  point  me  to  the  skies; 
Heaven's  morning  breaks,  and  earth's  vain  shadows 
flee; 

In  life,  in  death,  O  Lord;    abide  with  me. 

Amen. 
280 


THE  LAST  DAYS  |81 

While  the  board  was  still  in  session  she  came  to 
the  city,  and  there  in  the  home  of  her  niece  Mrs. 
Goble,  passed  her  eightieth  britdhay — but  she  was 
too  feeble  to  go  about  and  met  only  those  who 
called  upon  her  there. 

All  noticed  with  a  little  heart  sinking,  how  she 
clung  to  her  friends  and  how  often  she  spoke  of 
the  parting  as  likely  to  be  the  last.  But  this  had 
been  her  habit  for  years,  and  her  children  were 
wont  to  answer.  "Oh!  you  will  stay  with  us  now, 
until  the  family  come  from  China.  Lucius,  Jamie, 
and  your  namesake  Chappell  must  see  their  grand- 
mamma." Her  face  would  light  up  at  the  word, 
and  she  would  respond  with  loving  earnestness, 
"Yes!  If  God  will.  I  do  want  to  see  Henry  with 
his  children   about  him." 

This  was  the  last  earthly  desire  which  the  Lord, 
who  loved  her,  asked  her  to  resign.  In  what 
spirit  she  did  it  a  letter  which  reached  the  far  off 
China  home  on  the  last    day  of   her  life  shall  tell. 

"Detroit  Nov.  ist  1887. 

"My  darling  H 

"Thanks  for  your  sweet  remembrance  of  your 
mother's  eightieth  birthday,  which  is  within  four 
days  of  the  arrival  of  your  words  of  cheer.  I  am 
just  now  much  oppressed  with  a  cold  which  led 
me  to  ask,  when  your  father  read  from  your  letter 
of  Lucius  being  distressed  for  fear  he  should  never 


282  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

see  Grandma  Porter — if  the  angels  told  him  she 
was  going  to  the  heavenly  home  before  he  came  to 
America?  I  hope  to  meet  you  all  but  I  am  con- 
scious that  the  time  is  short,  which  remains,  and 
should  God  send  for  me  before  you  come,  my  dar- 
lings must  think  of  me  as  with  the  dear  Saviour 
who  has  been  'My  strength  and  my  song,'  all 
along  the  way,  and  never  more  really  present,  as 
Redeemer  and  Saviour,  than  now.  Let  Christ, 
His  life  and  promises.  His  very  presence  be  your 
joy.  .  'And  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound 
toward  you,  that  ye,  always  having  all  sufficiency 
in  all  things  may  abound  to  every  good  work.'  All 
you  both  need,  my  darlings,  for  all  things. 

Again  a  little  later. 

"Santa  Barbara,  Dec.  4th. 

"My  most  precious  children.  All  the  dear  group 
— all  of  whom  come  up  so  distinctly  before  my 
mind  as  I  write  to  you.  Thanks  to  our  Father  in 
heaven  that  we  have  such  pleasant  accounts  from 
parents  and  dear  children.  May  that  loving  hand 
still  preserve  my  darlings,  and  permit  us  to  meet 
again  on  this  beautiful  coast,  from  which  we  now 
look  across  the  great  ocean.  You  seem  already 
near  us  and  we  do  fondly  hope  that  the  time  will 
soon  come  when  'that  which  we  see'  we  need  'no 
longer  hope  for.'  For  this  our  united  prayers  will 
continue  to  ascend  while  with  joy  we  meet   at  our 


THE  LAS1   PAYS 
Father's  mercy  scat  and  sa>    'Not    as  I  will  but    as 

thou  wilt."  Ami  to  the  little  grandson,  who  waked 
crying  from  his  dreams  "afraid  grandma  will  not 

wait  for  us  to  get  to  America."  "You  must  ask 
God  every  day  to    let    grandpa  and  grandma  stay 

until  you  can  come  across  the  great  ocean  if  that  is 
best  for  us  all;  and  ask  Him  to  help  you  always  to 
say,  'Not  as  I  will  but  as  God  wills.' 

"That  is  what  we  need  to  make  us  always  good 
and  always  happy,  too." 

She  reached  Santa  Barbara,  after  a  very  com- 
fortable journey,  and  was  most  affectionately  wel- 
comed by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  B.  Perkins  in  whose  fami- 
ly she  was  to  be.  Their  home  was  a  vine  covered 
cottage  surrounded  by  lovely  flowers  and  fine  trees, 
opposite  a  little  park,  in  sight  of  the  mountains 
and  within  hearing  of  the  sea.  She  made  friends 
quickly  here  as  every  where,  and  particularly  en- 
joyed telling  of  the  way  the  Lord  had  led  her  to  an 
invalid  lady  who  had  accompanied  the  party  to  Cal- 
ifornia. They  sat  together,  on  the  verandah  under 
the  roses,  morning  after  morning,  with  Bibles  in 
their  hands  and  held  sweet  converse  of  the  Belov- 
ed and  His  dealings  with  His  own.  A  letter  of 
Mrs.  Porter's  to  those  who  had  entertained  her  last 
in  Chicago,  shows  how  her  heart  overflowed  with 
love,  and  how  she  received  each  thoughtful  atten- 
tion as  a  direct  gift  from  her  Father's  hand. 


284  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"Santa  Barbara,  Nov.  3th,  1887." 
"My  dear  niece:  — 

And  dear  family  all. 

"I  do  not  feel  that  the  little  postal 
expresses  in  the  least  our  sense  of  appreciation  of 
loving  kindness  received  in  your  dear  family  circle 
during  those  last  days  of  our  stay  in  the  city  of 
our  early  love,  and  which,  in  our  weakness,  was 
made  so  pleasant  and  comfortable  by  the  kind  at- 
tention of  parents  and  children.  The  aroma  is 
sweeter  to  us  than  that  of  California  flowers  which 
are  daily  brought  in  by  dear  friends  here  who 
minister  most  kindly  to  our  comfort,  and  study  to 
add  to  it  in  many  more  ways  than  we  could  ex- 
pect. 

"One  week  has  passed  since  we  arrived,  and  only 
'Goodness  and  mercy,  have  followed  us. '  My  cough 
although  not  gone  is  better,  and  I  am  improving,  I 
hope,  although  not  conscious  of  much  change.  To 
have  accomplished  such  a  journey  however,  with- 
out loss  of  strength  is  matter  for  devout  thanks- 
giving. 

"To  have  come  from  so  much  love  and  thought- 
'ulness  to  a  cold  stranger  home  would  have  been 
sad,  but  instead  we  are  met  with  the  kindest  atten- 
tion and  care.  Nothing  which  it  is  in  the  power 
of  each  to  add  to  our  comfort  or  pleasure  is  neg- 
lected.    I  know  you  will   unite  with  us  in  thanks- 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

giving  to  our  Father  in  heaven  for  such  loving  kind- 
ness given  in  this  Eai  off  bat  beautiful  land  by  the 
Great  Pacific,  and  amid  the  rocks  and  mountains 
which  are  in  wonderful  contrast  to  the  smiling 
Boweri  and  shrubs  which  meet  us  on  every  side. 
A  ^reat  variety  of  climbing  roses  and  clinging  vines 
surround  us,  and  look  in  at  our  window  on  an  up- 
per verandah.  Our  dear  B —  has  grown  to  be  a  fine 
little  school  boy,  but  was  prepared  to  meet  us  as  the 
friends  of  his  papa  and  mamma,  who  had  cared 
for  him  when  a  baby,  so  we  have  a  little  adopted 
grandson  as  affectionate  and  sweet,  as  manly  too, 
as  we  could  wish.  Mr.  Perkins  keeps  a  slow, 
gentle  horse  for  the  use  of  the  family.  M.  took 
me  down  to  the  beach  when  the  mighty  ocean  is 
seen  beating  and  surging  against  the  sand.  Though 
it  roar  it  cannot  prevail  or  pass  beyond  its  ap- 
pointed boundary  (see  Jer.  v:22). 

"Wonderful  to  see  this  ocean  held  in  peace  by  the 
sand  on  a  level  with  the  water,  because  He  who 
made  it  said  'Hither  to  and  no  further  and  here 
shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed.'  Surely  we  may 
trust  such  power  when  assured  that  our  God  is 
love,  and  that  He  gave  His  only  Son  to  save  the 
world  He  loved.  Oh!  that  men  would  praise  the 
Lord  for  His  goodness  and  for  His  wonderful  works 

to  the  children  o(  men.  1  have  much  that  I  would 
Bay  but  must  lay  aside  my  pen.     Love  to  any  who 

love  us  and  ask  for  us  in  your  circle..      .     .   " 


280  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

The  days  of  sunshine  and  beauty  were  followed 
by  an  unusual  succession  of  rainy  ones,  with  chill 
winds  and  penetrating  dampness.  Mrs.  Porter  sat 
by  her  open  fire  and  bore  the  change  so  well  that 
the  hope  of  a  comfortable  winter  grew  more  and 
more  assured,  just  before  the  holidays,  she  took  a 
slight  cold. 

On  Christmas  eve,  Saturday  evening,  gifts  for 
herself  and  Mr.  Porter  were  placed  in  her  room 
while  she  sat  with  the  family  in  the  parlor  below. 
She  went  upstairs  early,  as  was  her  habit,  and  in 
a  few  moments  came  running  down,  her  arms  full 
of  Christmas  presents,  to  share  her  pleasure  with 
the  family  circle.  Just  one  of  those  sweet  impetu- 
ous things  which  came  from  her  child-heart.  A 
little  morocco  case,  containing  photographs  of  each 
of  the  absent  sons  and  daughters,  especially  de- 
lighted her,  and  when  she  was  laughingly  reminded 
to  look  at  the  labels  and  see  which  were  her  pres- 
ents and  which  his,  she  said  "This  is  mine,  do  we 
not  have  every  thing  together?  1  shall  keep  it  al- 
ways in  sight"  and  she  pressed  each  dear  face  in 
turn  caressingly  against  her  cheek.  She  then  turned 
to  examine  other  things,  but  all  the  time  held  the 
folded  case  as  if  loath  to  part  with  it  even  for  a 
moment.  During  the  next  week  it  was  placed  here 
or  there  in  her  room,  that  in  whatever  position  she 
lay  it  might  be  "always  in  sight"  and  again  and  again 


THE  LAST  DAYS  287 

she  remarked,  "I  do  love  to  have  them  where  I  can 
see  them  all."  Sunday  morning  she  came  down 
stairs,  but  the  day  was  chilly  and  as  she  had  a 
cold,  it  was  not  thought  prudent  for  her  to  attend 
the  Christmas  service.  Her  son  had  sent  her  an 
illustrated  copy  of  "Abide  with  me"  and  she  spent 
part  of  the  morning  in  committing  the  hymn  to 
memory.  The  last  written  words  were  penned 
during  the  quiet  hour  while  the  other  members  of 
the  family  were  absent. 

"Santa  Barbara,  Cal. 

Dec.  25th.   1887. 

"My  Precious  Son:  — 

"This  glad  Christmas  morning  brings  new 
tokens  of  loving  thoughts  from  my  precious  ones 
who  have  already  anticipated  this  blessed  day, 
with  all  its  hallowed  associations  of  home,  child- 
hood, husband   beloved,  and   children  most   dear. 

"Sweet  memories!  And  such  blessed  hopes  as 
are  pressed  upon  us  afresh  on  this  Christmas 
morning  in  this  land  of  sunshine  and  flowers,  so  far 
away  by  the  great  ocean.  As  I  am  alone  for  an 
hour  and  began  to  take  in  the  import  of  your  last 
gift,  I  turned  to  my  testament  to  find  expression 
for  feelings  which  my  pen  cannot  impart  to  my  be- 
loved son,  in  appreciation  of  his  tender,  unfailing, 
thoughtful  care  and  sympathy,  so  sweetly,  fully, 
tenderly  and  comfortingly  expressed  in  that  hymn. 


288  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

I  opened  to  Philippians  4th,  and  read  on  until  I 
reached  the  4th  verse.  I  found  no  one  to  select  but 
refer  to  the  whole  reading,  hoping  you  too  may  take 
its  exhortations  and  rest  in  its  promises.  As  you 
read  the  tenth  verse  accept  it  as  mother's  thanks 
for  all  that  hymn  suggests.  Yes!  'Fast  falls  the 
eventide,  the  darkness  deepens  '  But  in  Him  who 
came  on  this  glad  Christmas  day  As  'A  light  to 
lighten'  the  world,  to  'lighten  the  Gentiles'  there 
is  'No  darkness  at  all'  even  'At  eventide  it  shall 
light.'  'And  when  He  who  is  our  life  shall  appear 
there  shall  we  also  appear  with  them,  we  'shall  be 
like  Him'  Wonderful  assurance!  We  will  lay  hold 
of  this  and  other  promises  and  girding  up  the  loins 
of  our  minds  go  on  our  way  rejoicing,  and  in  the 
eighteenth  verse.  I  will  lay  aside  my  pen  asking 
you  to  read  on  and  take  in  the  whole  of  the  fol- 
lowing verses,  while  I  lay  me  down  and  rest  as  my 
little  reminder*  of  the  rapid  flight  of  the  hours  in- 
forms me  that  if  I  have  a  nap  before  dinner  it 
must  be  sought  at  once.  So  I  will  just  ask  for  my 
son  the  full  realization  of  the  nineteenth  verse  and 
casting  all  care  on  him  who  careth  for  us,  rest."  That 
underscored  rest,  was  the  last  word  she  ever  wrote: 
the  hands  which  had  been  so  busy  with  corres- 
pondence ever  since  released  from  heavier  labors, 
which  had    sent  so   many   messages   of    cheer,  of 

*  A  small  clock  which  her  son  had  given  her  just  as  she  was  leaving  Chi- 
cago. 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

counsel,  of  tender  exhortation,  had  ceased  from 
toil,  although  for  another  week  their  caressing 
touch  was  ever  ready  to  sooth  the  grief  of  those 
who  watched  beside  her. 

While  in  the  parlor  that  evening  a  chill  came 
upon  her,  and,  evidently  in  much  pain,  she  went 
to  her  room.  The  night  was  a  hard  one,  but  no 
one  was  called  and  it  was  not  until  Monday  morn- 
ing that  friends  realized  that  she  was  seriously  ill. 
An  experienced  physician  from  San  Francisco, 
was  happily  near,  and  nothing  which  watchful 
care  and  skill  could  give  was  lacking  for  her  relief. 
When  the  doctor  first  examined  her,  in  reply  to 
some  question  she  said:  "I  think  the  old  machinery 
is  about  worn  out,  it  has  served  faithfully  for 
eighty  years,"  and  when  after  revived  hopes  the 
physician  could  do  no  more  for  her  he  said:  "We 
have  fought  a  brave  battle,  a  wonderful  one.  I 
thought  yesterday  we  had  won  it,  but  you  were 
right,  the  'machinery  is  worn  out'  it  will  not  bear 
any  more"  She  did  strive  to  live,  there  was  no 
passive  resignation,  but  the  most  earnest  positive 
effort  to  recover,  and,  after  the  pneumonia  g 
way,  and  the  fever  was  subdued,  for  twenty-four 
hours  hope  revived  in  all  hearts.  The  nurse  wrote 
"She  sets  herself  to  the  hateful  task  of  eating, 
while  she  loathes  food,  with  all  her  old  determi- 
nation, and  if  meaning  to  live  can  restore  her  she 


290  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

will  be  given  back  to  us,"  To  this  effort  she  was 
nerved  by  the  thought  of  the  absent  children,  and 
hope  of  a  family  reunion  the  following  summer, 
but  through  it  all  she  was  at  rest  because  her  whole 
heart  said:  "God's  will  is  good,  best,  let  it  be 
done  in  me,  through  me,  by  me."  During  the 
previous  week  she  had  sent  many  tokens  of  holiday 
remembrances  to  absent  friends.  As  she  lay  in 
great  suffering  she  recalled  others,  especially  two 
in  loneliness  and  widowhood,  and  knowing  that 
all  were  too  much  engrossed  to  attend  to  it  then, 
she  begged  that  her  desire  to  send  a  small  sum  of 
money  to  each  might  be  written  down  lest  it  should 
be  forgotten. 

With  these  requests  were  noted  a  few  of  her 
expressions  of  trust  and  exclamations  of  abound- 
ing joy.  These  came  most  often  in  times  of  ago- 
nizing distress,  when  she  seemed  to  fear  that  those 
about  her  would  think  of  her  as  suffering.  "In 
answer  to  a  bitter  cry  "Oh,  God!"  from  one  who 
watched  beside  her,  at  seeing  her  frail  form  writh- 
ing with  agony  she  said:  "Do  not  feel  so.  It  is 
not  I  that  suffer  only  my  poor  body;"  and  again 
when  looking  into  her  eyes,  so  full  of  love  and 
tenderness  with  all  the  old  light  in  them  the 
watcher  said:  "How  can  your  eyes  be  so  bright 
when  you  are  so  ill?"  she  answered  with  a  gleam 
of  the  humor  which  had  sparkled  through  all  her 


THE  LAS1  DAYS  891 

vicissitudes  "Why  should  not  my  eyes  be  bright, 
it  is  not  my  mind  that  is  sick,  only  my  poor  body. 
It  is  my  mind  whose  light  you  see  in  my  eyes,  that 
is  well,  calm,  at  peace." 

The  ninety-first  Psalm  had  been  her  staff  many 
times  in  her  pilgrimage.  At  every  family  parting, 
— and  her  life  had  been  so  full  of  them  -it  had  been 
read,  and  the  associations  with  it  were  peculiarly 
tender.  A  few  weeks  before  her  illness  in  reading 
it  over  she  had  remarked  "Every  promise  has  been 
fulfilled  to  me  but  the  last."  When  it  was  plain 
that  she  was  to  leave  her  loved  ones,  a  day  or  two 
before  the  end,  the  familiar  promises  were  read 
once  more  and  the  question  asked.  "Has  the  last 
promise  been  fulfilled  now,  are  you  satisfied  with 
long  life?"  She  smiled,  a  bright,  glad  smile  and 
answered  "Yes!  Satisfied,  but  I  still  long  to  see 
more  of  His  Salvation." 

On  one  of  the  last  days  Mr.  Porter  was  per- 
suaded to  drive  out  with  a  friend  to  get  some  cut 
flowers  which  her  eldest  son  had  sent  to  have  given 
her  on  New  Year's  day.  He  was  absent  for  several 
hours  and  on  his  return  she  turned  her  face  eager- 
ly at  sound  of  his  footsteps  and  said:  "How  glad 
I  have  always  been  to  welcome  you,  dear!"  That 
was  the  day  of  hope  to  those  who  watched,  per- 
haps she  knew  a  few  hours  before  they  did,  that 
she  would  welcome  him  next,  where  there  are  no 
more  partings. 


292  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

From  a  letter  written  to  Mrs.  Blatchford,  soon 
after  the  struggle  ceased,  a  glimpse  of  the  impres- 
sion of  those  days  may  be  gained. 

"They  were  a  fitting  close  to  a  life  like  hers. 
Her  mind  alert  keen,  ready  as  ever,  her  heart  over 
flowed  with  tenderness  toward  att,  while  her  poor 
body  was  racked  with  acute  and  intense  distress  of 
varied  forms.  Her  own  sweet  radiant  smile  broke 
over  her  face  again  and  again,  while  the  contortion 
of  pain  was  still  upon  it,  as  she  said  'This  weary 
body  writhes  but  'His  comforts  delight  my  soul. ' 
It  seemed  as  if  her  spirit  stood  apart  and  pitied 
the  agony  of  the  flesh  while  exulting  in  its  own 
triumph.  As  the  doctor  came  to  give  an  opiate 
which  should  relieve  the  suffering  she  said:  Tn  it 
all  there  is  peace  like  a  river,  perfect  peace,'  and 
from  such  peace,  in  the  fiery  furnace  of  pain,  she 
passed  into  unconsciousness,  and  before  the  New 
Years  morning  dawned,  into  life." 

Because  her  mind  was  so  clear  and  her  heart  so 
at  rest,  questions  concerning  the  future,  or  her 
immediate  comfort  were  as  usual,  left  to  her  own 
decision.  When  a  telegram  came  asking  if  her 
sons  should  try  to  reach  her,  the  return  message 
was  in  her  own  words.  "Mother  says  do  not 
come,  it  would  be  too  late,  sends  love  and  thanks," 
and  so  as  to  whether  she  should  endure  the  dis- 
tressing suffering  or  let    an   opiate   lull    her  to  un- 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

consciousness  her  watchers  asked  her  to  decide. 
Her  wondeiful  unselfishness  and  perfect  self-com- 
mand, were  never  more  clearly  shown  than  in  her 
quiet  refusal  to  plan  fur  the  future  of  those  deal 
to  her.  In  answer  to  such  questions  she  said, 
several  times.  "It  seems  now,  as  if  it  would  be 
best  to  do  so,  but  it  would  make  it  hard  for  you  to 
change  afterward  if  some  other  course  proved  wiser 
if  I  had  advised  this.  God  will  show  you  the  way 
step  by  step."  For  many  years  the  thought  of 
the  Heavenly  Home  had  seemed  ever  present  in 
Mrs.  Porter's  mind.  She  spoke  of  it  as  naturally, 
and  as  frequently  as  an  absent  child  does  of  his 
father's  house;  so  it  was  very  noticeable  that  dur- 
ing that  last  week,  all  her  thought  centered  on 
Christ  and  His  great  work.  Not  the  joyous  an- 
ticipation of  freedom  from  pain,  scarcely  a  word 
about  heaven,  but  constant  exultation  in  Jesus  the 
Redeemer.  She  did  not  ask  her  beloved  ones  to 
meet  her  above  or  talk  of  reunion,  even  that  dear 
hope  was  in  the  background,  in  her  earnest  desire 
that  they  should  search  more  deeply  into,  and  learn 
more  humbly  the  mind  of  Christ.  The  one  DO 
•  for  her  own  absent  ones,  and  for  the  ^: 
circle  of  friends,  who  would  miss  her  so  sorely, 
was  always  the  same  in  substance,  although  varied 
in    form,    which    she    one    day    ex]  in     the 

words,      "Oh!    beg  Christians    not    to    stop    at  the 


294  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

beginnings,  but  to  press  on  to  the  things  which 
come  afterwards."  She  was  very  weak,  and  it  was 
hard  to  ask  an  explanation  but  the  question  was 
gently  put.  'What  things  afterward?  "Oh!"  said 
she;  "Do  not  be  content  just  with  the  rudiments 
but  search  for  the  'hid  treasures'  of  God's  higher 
lessons."  Then,  too  weary  to  expand  the  thought. 
"It  is  all  in  the  third  chapter  of  Ephesians"  and, 
at  intervals,  as  paroxysims  of  pain  permitted,  she 
repeated  the  wonderful  verses  from  the  ninth  to 
the  close  of  the  chapter.  It  was  hours  before  she 
had  gone  through  them,  and  some  sentences  linger- 
ed on  her  lips  in  many  repetitions  "The  fellowship 
of  the  mystery"  "  Filled  with  all  the  fullness  of  God. " 
The  grief  of  her  watchers  at  her  pain,  the  visible 
tokens  of  which  they  could  not  always  conceal, 
brought  frequent  assurance  that  "This  light  afflic- 
tion which  is  but  for  a  moment"  did  not  touch  the 
fountains  of  joy  or  peace.  It  was  at  such  times 
that  she  said  'Let  us  rejoice  more  in  God.  Not 
rejoice  in  things  painful  and  distressing,  but  in  the 
Lord  who  is  'the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  for- 
ever.' 

'I  will  make  mention  of  Thy  name.  Thine  only. 
In  myself  weaker  than  a  bruised  reed,  but  in  the 
Lord  there  is  everlasting  strength. 

"Through  pains,  and  groans,  and  dying  strife, 
oh!  let  me  languish  in  life."  I  have  that  life — 
life  more  abundantly!" 


THE  LAST  DAYS  £96 

"My  flesh  and  my  heart  fail,  but  God  is  the 
strength  of  my  head  ami  my  portion  forever — 
blessed  forever  !" 

"He  holds  me  when  the  billows  smite;  I  cannot 
fall." 

It  was  shortly  before  midnight  that  Mrs.  Porter 
realized  that  stupor  was  coming  over  her.  She 
said  "good-night"  very  tenderly  to  those  who  stood 
about  her.  At  the  sound  of  the  bell,  they  wished 
one  another  a  Happy  New  Year  knowing  that  hers 
was  to  open  in  "Another  land  than  ours."  Already 
she  had  passed  beyond  pain,  but  she  was  dimly 
conscious  of  the  time  and  roused  her  benumbed 
powers  for  one  more  look  of  love,  one  more  repe- 
tition of  her  favorite  word  of  endearment.  Mr. 
Porter  was  very  feeble  but  able  to  recline  where  he 
could  watch  her  face.  In  the  chill  of  early  morn- 
ing when  the  heavy  breathing  grew  shorter  and 
then  ceased,  his  was  the  voice  which  broke  the 
silence  as  he  arose  and  stood  beside  her.  "Thanks 
be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

On  Tuesday  morning  a  few  friends  gathered  for 
a  service  of  remembrance.  The  still  form  lay  in 
her  golden  wedding  dress,  with  beautiful  flowers 
about  it,  and  on  the  face  the  look  of  peace.  The 
prayers  and   hymns  were    full   of   praise.      A  fierce 


296  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

driving  rain-storm  raged  without  and  friends  grieved 
that  even  the  casket  which  bore  'The  earthly 
house  of  her  tabernacle' — still  so  dear! — must  be 
sent  out  in  it  for  the  long  eastward  journey,  but 
she  was  no  longer  a  "Pilgrim"  but  had  entered  her 
"Father's  house"  Mr  Porter  was  too  much  of  an  in- 
valid to  make  the  trip  across  the  continent  at  that 
season  of  the  year,  but  the  family  all  desired  that  a 
memorial  service  be  held  in  Chicago,  and  that  Rose 
Hill  cemetery  be  the  resting  place  of  the  weary 
body,  as  it  was  ot  those  of  the  five  children  who 
had  preceded  her 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Blatchford  assisted  Mr.  James  Por- 
ter in  making  all  necessary  arrangements,  and 
the  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior  in 
the  following  letters,  expressed  their  desire  to 
attend  the  service  as  a  body  of  daughters. 
"512  Washington  Boul. 

"Chicago,  Jan.  10th." 

"Mr.  James  Porter, 
"My  dear  sir:  — 

"At  the  meeting  of  committee  of  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior,  this 
morning,  it  was  voted;  that  as  a  board,  we  request 
Mr.  Porter,  to  allow  us  the  honor  of  receiving  the 
remains  of  his  revered  mother  on  their  arrival  in 
the  city,  and  taking  care  of  them  until  the  time 
of  the  funeral. 


THH  LAST  DAYS 

"As  I  was  appointed  to  convey  the  requ 
you,  my  dear  Mr.    Porter,   I  run  glad  of   the  oppor- 
tunity to  tell  you,  as  doubtless  others  have  already, 

that  we,  as  a  Board  feel  that  we  too  have  lost  a 
mother.  While  our  hearts  go  out  in  sympathy 
for  the  children  so  deeply  bereaved,  we  feel  that 
our  loss  is  one  that  can  never  be  made  up  to  as. 
The  wise  counsels,  the  generous  gifts  of  her  chil- 
dren and  her  money,  and  the  many  prayers  of  your 
gracious  mother  were  blessings  that  we  value. 1 
highly  and  yet  did  not  half  appreciate.  Of  her 
admonitions,  two  are  with  us  continually,  in  our 
hearts  and  on  our  lips.  They  were  "Plan  great 
things"  and  "Whatsoever  He  saith  unto  you,  do  it." 
Emphasized  as  they  were,  by  her  life,  they  had 
great  power  over  us  all.  When  you  miss  her 
sorely,  as  you  will,  in  times  of  joys  or  sorrow, 
please  let  the  thought,  that  every  occasion  of 
thank-offering  or  of  appropriation  for  the  year  will 
bring  us  a  new  sense  of  our  loss  and  a  very  tender 
feeling  for  her  bereaved  family,  give  you  such  com- 
fort as  may  be  found  in  human  sympathy  and  ap- 
preciation. Your  dear  mother's  gifts  or  sugges- 
tions never  failed  us  in  our  times  of  need.  In  be- 
half of  the  W.  B.  M.  I.  allow  me  to  subscribe  my- 
self, 

Your  sorrowing  friend, 

Mary  J.   Wilcox, 

"  Secret  an 


298  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"Oak  Park  111." 

"Jan.    9th,   1888. 
"James  Porter  Esq. 
Dear  Sir:  — 

"The  news  of  the  home  going  of 
your  honored  mother  has  brought  to  us,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Woman's  Board  of  Mission  of  the  In- 
terior, a  sense  of  sore  bereavement. 

"It  is  as  though  our  mother  had  left  us.  She  was 
a  guide  moving  on  in  advance,  and  almost  within 
the  gates  of  the  other  world,  and  sending  us  back 
messages  which  she  heard  there.  Now  she  has 
hastened  on  and  is  within,  and  there  is  a  great 
loss  and  emptiness  to  us.  We  can  catch  a  little 
glimpse  of  what  it  must  be  to  you,  her  children. 
The  many  years  in  which  you  have  had  so  rare  a 
mother  have  added  greatly  to  the  sense  of  loss. 
All  our  friends  grow  precious  in  a  rapidly  increasing 
ratio  with  every  year  of  life,  and  especially  in  this 
case  where  the  growing  years  seemed  to  be  years 
borrowed  from  Heaven,  a  Heaven  life  here  in  the 
twilight  of  the  glory. 

"She  has  made  every  particle  of  her  existence 
and  of  her  influence  to  tell  for  the  utmost  in 
Christ's  kingdom  through  the  whole  lifetime  of 
Chicago,  and  we  know  that  we  must  be  willing  to 
spare  her  and  to  let  her  rest,  and  even  to  be  ex- 
ceeding glad  with  her  in  the  glorious  welcome  and 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

the  blessed  fellowship  of   those   choice   spirits  who 
with  her  are  now  gathering  home. 

"We  have  through  all  the  yean  of  our  organi- 
zation, felt  her  strong  impelling  and  inspiring  force. 
H^r  rare  life  of  missionary  work,  even  without 
her  vigorous  words,  was  a  powerful  stimulus.  We 
wish  to  express  to  you  our  tenderest  sympathy  and 
to  request  that  we  may  be  allowed  as  a  body  to 
attend  the  funeral  with  the  family. 

"On  behalf  of  the  Executive  committee. 
Yours  sincerely, 

Mrs.    S.  J.  Humphrey." 
The  husband  wrote  from  Santa  Barbara,   Jan. 
14th. 

" Your    dear,  loving    letter  in  reply  to  your 

mother's  of  Christmas  day,  reached  us  on  the  12th. 
"Hers  might  indeed  have  come  from  heaven  In 
the  bright  light  of  our  Father's  house  she  had 
lived  so  long,  she  spoke  and  wrote  in  it,  to  the 
comfort  and  joy  of  those  seeking  that  light,  until 
that  last  note.  Never  was  her  testimony  more 
clear  and  convincing  than  in  the  last  week  of  her 
tarry  on  this  side  the  vale. 

"Although  she,  and  we  all  had  ardently  wished 
we  might  welcome  home  H.  and  H.  — and  their 
three  sons,  that  she  gave  up  with  sweet  submis- 
sion to  Our  Father's  will.  Just  before  the  first 
hours  of  1888   she  replied  to   a    question  about  her 


300  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

pains  of  body.  'Yes!  anything  for  relief,  but 
'Peace  flows  through  my  soul  like  a  river'.  So 
her  last  sentence  uttered  was  like  the  truimphant 
language  of  her  life  for  many  many  years. 
Late  Saturday  evening  your  telegram  assured  us 
that  the  precious  dust  had  safely  made  its  long 
journey.  For  this  we  again  thank  God  most  grate- 
fully. Now  it  will  be  watched  by  dear  friends  until 
such  visible  care  will  be  no  more  needed.  'Abide 
with  me'  had  been  the  prayer  of  her  heart  more 
constantly  for  more  than  sixty  years,  than  that  of 
any  other  I  have  known.  What  quietness  and 
assurance  it  wrought — what  constant,  deep,  all  em- 
bracing love!" 

About  this  same  date,  too  late  for  her  eyes  to 
see  it,  came  a  letter  from  the  son  in  China  written 
on  her  eightieth  birthday.  Some  gift  for  that  an- 
niversary she  had  acknowledged  in  the  last  letter 
from  Detroit. 

"Pang  Chuang,    China. 

November  5th,  1887. 
"My  Dearest  Mother: — 

"So  sweet  and  beautiful  is  the  life  you 
have  lived,  so  rich  to  us  now  in  all  its  tender 
sweetness  and  abounding  spiritual  strength!  Even 
we  who  are  so  familiar  with  it,  look  with  a  glad 
and  filial  wonder  at  the  many,  many  years  that 
still  so  gently  fall  upon  you.      These  days    are  not 


THE  LAST  DAYS 

as  those  other  and  elder  days  when  such  as  Moses 
undertook  great  tasks  i  >f  leadership  under  the  weight 
of  eighty  years  of  discipline.  And  yet  they  are 
good  and  gracious  days  when  children  are  permitted 
to  bring  their  children  to  see  and  venerate  the 
lives  that  have  been  everything  to  them.  It  is  not 
strange  that  we  should  love  our  own,  nor  worship 
those  who  have  been  in  so  many  ways  in  place 
of  Him  who  is  invisible. 

"On  the  long  journey  whither  we  have  gone  and 
returned,  we  have  seen  over  many  a  door-way  a 
beautiful  tablet  in  gilt  with  the  inscriptions  'The 
Home  of  Five  Generations,'  'The  Dwelling  of 
Four  Generations.'  They  marry  young  and  so 
can  easily  have  the  four  or  five.  Shall  we  be  made 
happy  in  the  three  generations  with  dear  father 
and  yourself  as  the  leaders  of  a  little  family  'tem- 
ple' as  the  Chinese  call  the  'Home?  To  the  poor 
Chinese  nothing  seems  more  beautiful  than  aged 
parents  dwelling  in  the  midst  of  their  children. 
And  to  us,  although  we  may  have  another  shrine 
higher  than  the  dear  leaders  and  moulders  of  our 
human  lives,  still  there  is  nothing  so  sweetly  gra- 
cious and  beautiful  as  the  acceptance  of  such  love, 
and  the  rendering  of  loving  homage  in  return.  I 
think  that  Victoria,  with  all  her  regal  splendor, 
could  not  vie  her  crown  with  that  of  wisdom  and 
gentleness,  of  faith  and  of  love  that  rests  upon 
eighty  years. 


302  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"We  cannot  be  there  to  shower  you  with  kisses, 
but  we  will  keep  them  fresh  and  sweet,  God  will- 
ing for  the  summer  days.  Will  they  be  richer  with 
the  perfume  of  the  summer.  They  will  not  be 
warmer,  even  though  these  be  the  chill  autumn 
days. 

"I  wonder  if  you  are  as  proud  of  your  three  boys 
as  B —  is  of  hers.  Of  course,  she  would  not  say 
so,  nor  perhaps  would  you.  We  will  not  force  you 
to  any  confession  but  that  of  love,  and  that  is  al- 
ways an  easy  one  to  make,  except  once  in  a  life- 
time. 

"By  the  mail  that  came  while  I  was  away,  my 
birthday  letter  came,  so  that  I  know  there  is  no 
need  of  a  confession  of  love  even.  I  can  believe 
that  love  grows  sweeter  and  lovelier  with  all  the 
years,  and  so  shall  not  attempt  to  estimate  your 
love  for  us  by  ours  for  you. 

"What  if  love  could  be  so  strong  as  as  to  change 
all  weakness  into  strength,  physical,  I  mean,  and 
age  into  immortal  youth  ?  Is  that  what  the  tender 
love  of  God  for  His  children  is?  If  that  be  so, 
then  we  at  some  time  may  realize  its  wondrous 
depth  and  energy.  Till  then  we  can  rejoice  in  the 
increasing  love  of  parents  for  children  and  children 
for  parents. 

"And  God  is  our  Father?  Why  should  we  not 
cling  to  Him.      Men  do  not  know  of  Him.    They 


THE  LAST  DAYS  KM 

will,  if  He  be  shown  to  them  as  real  and   personal, 
Loving  and  gracious. 

"But  I  must  stop.  A  whole  corona  of  love 
from  us  all  to  adorn  our  sweet  mother  and  grand- 
mamma. Henry." 

"Chicago,  Jan.,   16th. 
"To  Mr.  Porter. 

.  "We  are  grateful  that  the  dear  remains 
were  not  again  hindered  on  the  way  by  the  most 
unusual  storms  but  could  be  conveyed  and  convoyed 
to-day  by  loving  friends  to  the  New  England 
church.  There  in  charge  of  the  sorrowing,  rejoic- 
ing women  of  the  Board  they  wait  the  services  of 
to-morrow,  and  then  will  be  taken  by  her  sons  to 
their  last  resting  place.  If  all  her  living  sons  could 
but  have  accompanied  them!  But  this  is  a  part 
of  the  price  which  the  dear  absent  one  pays  for  the 
privilege  of  his  great  service,  and  'As  one  whom 
his  mother  comforteth'  we  may  trust  the  Master  will 
comfort   him." 

The  following  account  of  the  memorial  service  ap 
peared  in  one  of  the  Chicago  dailies,  Jan.  1 8th, 
1888. 

"Like  her  life  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Por- 
ter was  simple  and  unostentatious.  The  services 
began  at  2  o'clock  yesterday  afternoon,  in  the  New 
England  church,  corner  Delaware  place  and  Dear- 
born avenue.      The  choir  was  composed    of  friends 


304  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

of  Mrs.  Porter's,  Mrs.  Bradley,  N.  H.  Biatchford, 
and  Harry  Hubbard. 

"After  they  had  sung  'Jerusalem  the  Golden, ' 
President  Fisk  of  the  Chicago  Theological  seminary 
read  an  extended  biography  of  the  deceased.  He  had 
been  one  of  her  warmest  friends,  and  several  times 
his  voice  shook  with  emotion.  Prayer  was  offered 
by  Dr.  G.  S.  F.  Savage,  after  which  the  Rev.  J. 
H.  Barrows,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  church 
spoke  feelingly  of  the  life  and  character  of  Mrs. 
Porter. 

"The  benedication  was  pronounced  by  the  Rev. 
Arthur  Little,  pastor  of  New  England  church. 
Many  of  Mrs.  Porter's  old  friends  were  in  attend- 
ance at  the  services,  the  most  of  them  with  gray 
heads  and  bowed  forms,  each  representing  a  part 
of  the  history  of  Chicago. 

"A  beautiful  oil  painting  of  Mrs.  Porter,  was  hung 
in  the  church  parlor.  It  represented  her  sitting  at 
the  bedside  of  a  dying  soldier.  Her  dark  auburn 
hair,  unchanged  at  the  time  of  her  death,  her 
beautiful  smile,  and  benevolent  features  were  re- 
produced in  a  strikingly  lifelike  manner.  The  in- 
terment was  at  Rose  Hill. 

Beside  the  services  at  Santa  Barbara,  Chicago 
and  Austin  another  was  held  in  the  little  Chinese 
village  of  Pang  Chuang,  to  which  the  tidings  of 
her  release  had  been  flashed  beneath  the  sea  and 


M  M:l»     K..I    )M      l|~ 


LIBRARY 

Of    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


THE  LAST  DAYS  :;".r> 

across  the  wide  continents.  Rev.  Arthur  Smith 
gave  the  gathered  Chinese  Christians  some  remin- 
iscences of  the  mother  of  the  pastor  and  physician 
whom,  for  his  sake,  they  loved  and  mourned. 

During  the  year  there  was  cast  at  the  Meneely 
Works  of  Troy,  New  York,  a  bell  inscribed: 

"Ring  out  the  old  ring  in  the  new 
Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be." 

In  memory  of 

ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

presented  by  her  husband 

REV.    JEREMIAH    PORTER. 

"JesusChrist  the  same  yesterday,  todayand  forever" 

In  the  year  o.f  our  Lord  1888  and  of  the 

Emperor  Kuang  Hsii  the  14th. 

Which  now  hangs  in  the  tower  of  the  Pang 
Chuang  chapel,  and  calls  to  prayer  from  among  that 
heathen  people  a  little  company  of  those  who  know 
and  of  those  who  seek,  "Like  precious  faith" 
with  hers. 


CHAPTER  XX 

IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  Mrs.  Porter  "entered 
into  rest"  Mr.  Perkins  wrote  several  sketches  of 
her  life  for  publication  in  the  religious  newspapers, 
One  which  was  most  satisfactory  to  those  who  knew 
her  best,  an  appreciative  and  discerning  analysis 
of  her  character,  is  given  here.  It  is  followed  by 
an  extract  from  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Arthur  Little, 
and  by  a  small  number  of  the  many  letters  which 
came  to  the  family  from  all  parts  of  this  land  and 
from  not  a  few  of  the  mission  fields  abroad. 

"In  the  announcement  to  friends  of  their  honored 
mother's  departure;  Mrs.  Porter's  children  have 
placed  at  the  beginning  Whittier's  beautiful  stanza: 

"The  dear  Lord's  best  interpreters 

Are  humble  human  souls; 
The  gospel  of  a  life  like  hers 
Is  more  than  books  or  scrolls." 

And  none  who  knew  the  dear  saint  can  question 
the  fitness  of  this  application  of  the  poet's  words. 
Her  life  was  the  gospel ;  a  daily  setting  forth  of 
Christ  in  the  fullness  of  His  power  and  grace. 
Even  the  sacred  writer's  lofty  phrase  "brightness  of 

306 


IMPRESSIONS  Of-  UFB  AND  CHARACTl 

His  Glory  and  express  image  of  His  person,"  does 
not  in  this  connection  seem  out  of  place.  For  if 
ever  B  saint  was  "the  glory  of  Christ,"  she  was 
such.  It  was  the  embodied  Christ-life  which  shone 
out  upon  the  world  from  her.  There  seemed  to  be 
no  other;  certainly  to  us  who  knew  her  only  in  the 
evening  of  the  days.  The  Christ-life  had  absorbed 
everything.  For  her  "to  live  was  Christ."  The 
life  which  she  lived  in  the  flesh,  she  lived  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God."  Taxing  memory  for  the 
task  I  cannot  recall  one  word  or  act,  look  or  judg- 
ment, breathing  other  than  the  spirit  of  Christ;  not 
one  which  as  indicating  character  seemed  unworthy 
of  the  blessed  Master.  She  was  herself  a  convin- 
cing rebuke  to  the  current  materialistic  skepticism. 
Her  God,  her  Christ,  her  heaven,  her  divine  sup- 
ports and  impulses  were  living  realities.  In  her 
presence  doubt  seemed  monstrous,  while  she  was 
speaking  even  wordly  hearts  glowed  with  light  from 
God's  face  and  were  drawn  toward  the  fellowship 
of  His  children.  The  phenomenon  was  often  ob- 
served. It  was  the  constraint  of  a  loving  Christ 
like  character.  The  blessed  Master  revealed  in 
>ly  life. 
"It  was  a  sad  mistake  however,  to  confound  this 
Christ-likeness  with  nature, or  to  think  of  its  graces 
as  spontaneous  growths.  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
provides  for  no  such  miracles;  and  this  saint  strove 


308  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

for  what  she  gained.  Not  a  painless  or  tearless 
struggle  either.  Those  who  knew  her  best  testify 
that  she  was  not  a  whit  behind  those  glorified  ones, 
who  'wrestled  hard  with  sins  and  doubts  and  fears, ' 
that,  despite  the  sweet  serenity  of  her  external 
life,  she  knew  what  it  was  to  wet  her  couch  with 
bitter  tears.  Even  to  the  last  indeed  the  tempter 
assailed  her,  and  forced  her  to  offset  his  will  with 
her  own  divinely  strengthened  resolution. 

"Yet  it  ought  to  be  said  with  equal  distinctness 
that  all  her  struggles  were  consciously  to  herself 
those  of  a  child  of  God.  They  did  not  effect  the 
realization  of  her  position  in  His  family,  nor  inter- 
rupt her  loving  fellowship  with  the  Father  and 
with  His  son  Jesus  Christ.  She  dwelt  in  God  and 
God  in  her;  this  was  to  her  the  most  blissful  of  cer- 
tainties. It  gave  her  courage,  strength,  and  skill  for 
the  conflict,  and  became  the  assurance  of  glorious 
victory.  It  aided  also  in  that  appreciation  of 
others'  trials,  and  of  the  divine  provision  for  relief 
which  made  her  so  wise  and  efficient  as  a  counsellor 
and  friend.  To  it  was  largely  due  the  generous 
love  and  unfailing  charity  which  as  an  atmosphere 
pervaded  all  her  relations  to  the  world. 

"It  was  the  secret  spring  of  her  rare  unselfishness. 
By  that  she  held  herself  at  the  beck  of  her  heavenly 
Father,  equally  ready,  as  He  willed,  to  go  or  stay, 
to  do  or  to  suffer,  to  stretch  forth  or  to  withold  her 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

band,  to  act  or  to  wait.  It  was  no  loss  charai  ter- 
istic  of  her  intercourse  with  people;  of  ten  a  severer 
test  than  the  divine  relationship.  Hers  was  dis- 
tinctively a  pioneer  work;  and  she  had  in  large 
measure  the  inventive  and  organizing  faculties  re- 
quisite for  that.  She  was  always  reaching  out  after 
the  as  yet  unattempted  good.  She  was  an  en- 
thusiast in  new,  better  methods.  This  was  both 
illustrated  and  developed  in  her  work  as  teacher 
at  Mackinaw  and  Chicago,  her  varied  services  at 
Green  Bay,  her  laborious  army  life,  her  later  edu- 
cational efforts  at  Brownsville,  her  undying  mis- 
sionary zeal  and  her  support  of  the  temperance 
and  every  other  reformatory  movement.  But  in 
all  these  the  special  feature  of  her  work,  too  in- 
frequent among  philanthropists,  was  its  unselfish- 
ness. Not  only  would  she  work  with  others  but 
under  them,  if  need  be;  even  as  their  servant,  in 
this  too  resembling  her  Master.  She  was  willing  to 
toil  on  in  laying  foundations,  or  building  up  some 
fair  structure  of  Christian  service;  equally  ready, 
when  a  competent  successor  was  prepared  to  give 
over  the  prosperous  undertaking,  while  she  herself, 
with  unabated  zeal  turned  to  other  projects  or 
more  needy  fields.  It  was  the  service,  not  the 
emoluments  or  the  name  which  enlisted  hei  ener- 
gies. No  words  would  seem  more  fit  for  expressing 
the  spirit  in  which  she  wrought,  than  those    which 


310  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

the  Master  uses  when  making  over  His  honors  to 
the  disciples;  'the  works  which  I  do  shall  ye  do 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  ye  do. ' 

"This  simple  unselfishness  surrounded  her  life 
with  a  peculiar  charm.  It  stole  upon  you  like 
some  delicate  perfume.  Only  gradually  did  you 
realize  the  secret  of  her  winsomeness.  Indeed  it 
was  a  growing,  and  a  sweet  surprise  at  every  step 
of  your  acquaintance. 

"What  has  now  been  said  may  throw  some  light 
upon  her  unusual  attainments  in  the  knowledge 
as  well  as  in  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Her  native  endowments  of  an  intellect  clear,  keen, 
and  vigorous,  doubtless  furnished  a  natural  basis 
for  this.  The  instrument  must  need  be  of  superior 
quality  which  was  designed  for  a  work  so  great  and 
laborious.  That  intellect  morever  was  carefully 
and  wisely  trained.  But  this  does  not  explain  her 
remarkable  attainments  in  Christian  knowledge. 
It  might  perhaps  have  enabled  her  to  grasp  the 
forms  of  doctrine;  but  the  chief  excellence  of  her 
theology  was  that  it  had  come  to  her  throbbing 
with  the  life  of  God,  as  the  word  of  her  Heavenly 
Father,  and  all  alive  with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel. 
She  was  wont  to  speak  of  herself  as  a  little  child 
needing  to  be  taught.  And  this  teaching  rather 
than  her  own  reasonings  was  the  source  of  her  en- 
lightenment.  All  her  studies  were  carried  on  as  un- 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  811 

der  the  eye, and  with  the  aid  of  the  Great  Teacher, 
she  had  absolute  confidence  in  His  wisdom,  what- 
ever He  choose  to  tell  her  she  gratefully  re- 
ceived. She  wanted  His  thought,  and  she  trusted 
Him  for  the  form;  where  His  revelation  stopped, 
she  halted  biding  His  time  for  advance.  Thus  her 
beliefs  carried  with  them  a  certain  divine  authority. 
In  her  serene  and  loving  utterance  they  won  favor 
instead  of  opposition.  Her  words  went  home  to 
the  heart.  They  were  not  only  true,  but  living 
truth.  More  than  this  they  created  the  conviction 
of  being  the  truth  of  God  in  her,  truth  on  which 
she  herself  had  fed,  felt  its  virtue  and  proved  its 
fitness  for  every  sinner's  need;  what  wonder  then 
that  to  so  many  she  became  a  spiritual  mother? 
"Her  perennial  mental  growth  also  thus  becomes 
intelligible.  She  carried  the  child-spirit  through 
life.  She  was  never  inflated  with  the  pride  of 
knowledge.  To  the  end  hers  was  the  attitude  of  a 
learner.  She  was  always  asking  her  Heavenly 
Father  for  light  upon  His  word  or  ways,  and  wel- 
comed every  illustration  of  his  wise  and  loving 
agency.  Such  a  pupil  could  not  be  narrow.  A 
verse  often  on  her  lips,uThe  works  of  the  Lord  are 
great,  sought  out  of  all  that  have  pleasure  therein," 
gave  the  key  to  her  mental  character.  No  work  <>f 
God  lay  outside  her  sympathy,  she  loved  them  all 
She    studied   them  all. 


312  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"Nature,  providence  and  grace  alike  furnished 
fields  of  thought,  natural  scenery  always  charmed 
her.  It  was  delightful  to  witness  her  pure  and 
enthusiastic  joy  in  the  beauties  of  this  favored 
spot.  She  was  actively  interested  too  in  all  the 
events  of  the  day,  and  the  movements  among  the 
nations.  They  concerned  her  because  of  their  re- 
lations to  the  oncoming  kingdom  of  her  Master. 
For  the  same  reason  her  distinctively  religious 
thought  never  stagnated.  She  was  always  advanc- 
ing into  broader  and  more  truthful  conceptions 
of  Christian  doctrine  and  life.  And  finally,  her 
success  in  practical  Christian  work  was  largely  due 
to  the  life  which  was  behind  and  inspired  it.  Her 
happy  thoughts  and  wise  methods  were  God's  reve- 
lation to  His  child.  Many  of  them  came  to  her 
upon  her  knees  in  prayer.  How  much  of  the  wis- 
dom which  went  into  her  work  in  connection  with 
the  Sanitary  commission  originated  thus,  we  may 
imagine  even  though  it  cannot  be  definitely 
known. 

"So  this  saintly  woman  lived  and  wrought  for 
sixty  years  and  more,  a  life  of  faith  in  Christ,  a 
life  of  fellowship  with  Christ,  a  life  of  devotion  to 
Christ  Truly  it  was  a  precious  offering  which  Eli- 
za Chappell  made  when  rising  from  that  sick-bed 
in  early  womanhood.  Every  advancing  year  as  it 
made  fresh  demands   upon   that    consecration,  re- 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER  US 

ed  more  clearly  both  its  worth  and  its  COOiph 
ness.     Never  for  an  instant,  apparently,  did  she 

incline  to  recall  it.      She   had   made  of  hur  whole 

soul  an  offering  to  her  Redeemer's  name   and    she 

held   to   her   purpose.      Was  it   strange  then  that 

she  who  had  so  bravely  wrought  the    will   of  God, 

should  so  triumphantly  fall  asleep.    Her  peace  was 

no  mystery;    it  was  God's  recognition  of  His  child. 

An  organic  connection   bound  it  to   her  past   life. 

Again  and  again  during  the  weeks,   which  followed 

her   translation   I  seemed   to   hear   the    trembling 

accents  of  her  sweet  voice  in  that  consecrated  room. 

"He  holds  me  while  the  billows  smite; 
I  shall  not  fall." 

And  witnessing  her  victory  over  fate   and  death   I 

know  that  her  God  both  can   and  will    keep   those 

in  perfect  peace  whose  minds  are  stayed  on  Him, 

because  they  trust  in   Him.      May  be   given   to   us 

all  to  prove   it   in   our   earthly   course    and  in  our 

passage  hence  to  the   Father's   house  on   high, 

F.  B.  Perkins." 

"Santa  Barbara, 

January  21st,  1888." 

Remarks  at  Close  of  Sermon  by   Rev.  Arthur 
Little,  D.  D.,  January  22,  1888. 

Text:      In    quietness    and    confidence    shall    be 
your  strength. — Isa.  30:   15. 


314  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

"The  train  of  thought  presented  this  morning 
was  suggested  to  my  mind,  while  thinking  of  the 
life  and  career  of  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter,  who  on 
New  Year's  day  awakened  satisfied  with  her  Mas- 
ter's likeness.  How  much  of  that  likeness  she 
bore  here! 

"As  I  have  been  accustomed  to  see  her  occasion- 
ally, during  the  past  ten  years,  the  language  in 
which  Victor  Hugo,  describes  a  saintly  character 
may  well  have  been  applied  to  her.  'What  was 
thinness  in  her  youth  had  become  in  her  maturity 
transparency;  and  through  this  transparency  the 
angel  could  be  seen.  She  seemed  to  be  a  shadow, 
there  was  hardly  enough  body  for  a  sex  to  exist; 
she  was  a  little  quantity  of  matter,  containing  a 
light,  an  excuse  for  a  soul  to  remain  upon  the 
earth. ' 

"Now,  what  is  the  story  of  this  woman  whose 
frail  body  seemed  scarcely  strong  enough  to  be  the 
dwelling  place  of  such  a  flaming  spirit?  In  her 
girlhood  almost,  she  is  found  Bible  in  hand,  out 
on  the  frontier,  beyond  the  limits  of  civilization, 
working  for  Christ.  And  so  through  all  the  years 
of  a  long  and  eventful  life,  always  in  the  hard 
places,  -places  of  risk,  exposure,  fatigue,  action, 
service;  a  very  aggressive  life,  and  a  life  of  pro- 
found Christian  experiences.  It  was  said  at  her 
funeral  that  there  were  chapters  in  her  life  akin  to 
these  of  Madam  Guyon. 


IMPRESSIONS  Of  HI  I-  AND  CHARACTER         N6 

"This  most  remarkable  and  useful  life  illustrates 
the  two  hemispheres  of  the  well  rounded  globe  of 
Christian  character— the  meditative  and  the  active, 
the  mystic  and  the  aggressive.  She  was  very  active, 
because  she  was  very  thoughtiul  and  meditative; 
she  was  aggressive,  because  she  was  lifted  into 
those  high  altitudes  of  experience  that  border  upon 
holy  ecstacy,  or  visions  of  God,  apocalypses,  be- 
atific visions.  She  was  quietly,  continuously  per- 
sistent in  well  doing,  because  she  was  much  of  the 
time  quietly  waiting  upon  God.  She  was  outward- 
ly active,  because  she  was  inwardly  at  peace.  She 
was  much  with  others  in  Christian  service,  because 
she  was  much  alone  with  her  Saviour,  she  gave 
out  much,  because  she  took  in  much,  because  she 
was  much,  she  could  not  help  doing,  because  it 
was  not   she  but  Christ  who  dwelt  in  her. 

"She  always  found  avenues  of  service,  because 
she  had  no  will  of  her  own  in  the  matter,  but  held 
herself  obedient  to  His  will.  There  was  much  fruit 
brought  to  perfection,  because  the  branch  was  kept 
in  vital  union  with  the  vine.  Silting  much  at  the 
Master's  feet,  learning  the  Master's  will,  she  could 
not  be  held  back  from  energetic  engagement  in 
His  service.  She  probably  thought  little  about 
results,  but  much  about  pleasing  Him, and  obeying 
the  impulse  of  a  loving  heart,  results  were  inevit- 
able. 


316  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

'There  are  in  this  loud,  stunning  tide 

Of  human  care  and  crimes, 
With  whom  the  melodies  abide 

Of  the  everlasting  chimes. 
Who  carry  music  in  their  heart 
Through  dusky  lane  and  wrangling  mart, 
Plying  their  daily  task  with  busier  feet, 
Because  their  secret  souls   a   lowly  strain  re- 
peat.' 

"The  aggressiveness  of  faith,  the  aggressivness  of 
prayer,  the    aggresiveness   of   a   holy  life,  the   ag- 
gressiveness of  goodness,  of  Christlikeness. 
'The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  me.' 
'For  me  to  live  is  Christ.' 
'When  I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong.' 
'I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strength- 
ened me.' 

'Poor,  yet   making  many  rich;    having   nothing 
yet  possessing  all  things.' 
'Dying  and  behold  we  live.' 
'Dead  unto  the  world,  alive  unto  God.' 
"This  life  of  Mrs.  Porter  seemed  to  illustrate  all 
the  paradoxes  of  the  Christian  faith,  all  the  beati- 
tudes, all  the  promises. 

"The  Bible  translated  and  transmuted  into  a 
human  life,  consecrated,  vitalized,  and  then,  from 
the  alembic  of  a  great  experience,  freely  given  to 
others — that  is  genuine  aggressiveness  in  Christian 
service.  Expect  to  see  that  life  not  in  the  circle 
of  gaiety,  not  in   the   places  of  fashion,  but  out  in 


IMPRESSIONS  Oh  UFB  AND  CHARACTER  B17 

the  hard,  exposed  places  where  souls  are  dying  of 
spiritual  starvation. 

"How  Mrs.  Porter's  crown  now  sparkles!  'They 
that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the 
firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteous- 
ness as  the  stars  forever  and  ever. '  Do  you  covet 
her  crown  ?  She  did  not  aim  for  a  crown.  She  bore 
the  cross,  and  the  crown  was  placed  by  attending 
angels  on  her  conquering  brow." 

"Bcloit,    Wis.t  Jan.  2nd,  1888 
"Dear  Cousin:  — 

"We  thank  you  most  heartily  for  your  thoughtful 
remembrance  of  us  in  your  letters  and  telegrams. 
We  find  now  that  we  did  build  much  hope  on  your 
Mother's  remarkable  recuperative  power,  and  we 
did  so  want  she  should  stay  till  Henry  and  Bessie 
and  the  dear  children  should  see  the  dear  face  and 
feel  the  touch  of  the  tender  mother  love.  And  so, 
since  the  first  word  came  Saturday  morning,  we 
have  not  ceased  to  pray  most  earnestly  that  she 
might  be  kept  a  little  longer  on  this  side  the  river; 
and  all  the  while  we  tried  to  say  that  it  would  be 
all  right,  whatever  God  might  appoint.  We  knew 
that  her  true  home  was  on  the  other  side;  but  the 
children  and  your  father  and  all  of  us,  what  were 
we  to  do  without  her?  Such  a  reverent,  deep  ten- 
der love  have  we  cherished  in  our  hearts  for  yottf 
mother   and   father.      The   grace   of  God   and  the 


318  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

home  in  heaven  always  seemed  nearer  and  more 
real  when  they  were  here.  And  now  this  beautiful, 
saintly  life  begins  its  New  Year,  I  was  going  to  say 
amid  new  surroundings,  but  I  do  not  know  of  any 
who  would  feel  more  at  home  there.  It  is  her 
home.  She  has  lived  there  long,  and  caught  much 
of  its  spirit.  We  shall  miss  her.  Will  she  miss  us? 
Will  she  not  rather  be  so  near,  in  the  new  freedom 
of  the  new  life,  so  that  her  thoughtful,  loving  care 
for  those  she  leaves  will  be  fully  satisfied  with  its 
larger  opportunties  for  ministering  to  them  ?  Well, 
we  do  not  know.  But  we  will  remember  ever  with 
a  grateful  love  the  life  prolonged  fourscore  years; 
filled  full  with  loving  thoughts,  and  gracious  words 
and  kindly  acts,  and  helpful  ways  that  have  en- 
riched and  blessed  more  lives  than  we  can  tell, 
and  have  made  her  influence  and  her  name  a  bene- 
diction. 

"I  thank  God  again  this  morning  that  by  His 
grace,  such  lives  can  be  lived  on  earth.  We  do 
come  very  near  to  you. 

"You  will  kindly  let  us  know  the  arrangements 
that  may  be  made. 

"Your  ever  affectionate  cousin, 

William  Porter." 


IMPRESSIONS  Ol   ill:    AND  CHARACTER         Blfl 

"Chicago,  Jam-  toth%  /■ 

2957  Indiana  Ave* 

"Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter, 

"My  Dear  Brother:  — 

"I  am  requested  by  the  session  of  the 
church  which  you  founded  more  than  forty-four 
years  ago  to  express  to  you  our  deep  and  loving 
sympathy  with  you  in  the  sorrow  which  has  come 
to  you,  and  to  convey  to  you  in  some  measure  our 
appreciation  of  the  worth  and  services  of  that  rare 
and  wonderful  woman  whom  you  wedded  so  long 
ago  and  whose  Christian  history  is  one  of  the 
brightest  pages  in  the  record  of  the  last  half  cent- 
ury. 

"You  know,  even  better  than  we,  what  a  noble 
Christian  heart  beats  no  more  on  the  shores  of 
time,  and  what  an  abundant  welcome  she  has  re- 
ceived from  the  many  whom  she  blessed  here  on 
earth  and  who  now  rejoice  with  her  in  glory. 

"May  God  give  you  continually  of  His  richest 
comfort  till  His  love  shall  place  you  by  her  side 
again. 

"In  behalf  of  the  session  of  the  First  Presbyte- 
rian church  and  with  the  warmest  expression  of 
love,  regard  and  sympathy  to  you  and  your  chil- 
dren, I  am 

Yours  affectionately. 

John  11.    Harrows, 

Pastor." 


320  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"Beloit,  Jan.  22nd,  1S88. 
"My  Dear  Brother  Porter:  — 

"You  do  not  need  any  comfort  which  I  can 
offer.  The  grace  of  God  which  flowed  so  richly,  so 
constantly,  so  blessedly  over  and  through  that  long 
earthly  life  now  finished,  the  effect  of  which  was 
more  manifest  to  you  than  to  anybody  else,  that 
grace  which  triumphed  in  her  translation  to  be 
with  the  trusted  and  loving  Saviour  where  He  is, 
and  which  is  consumated  in  the  unspeakable  bliss 
of  a  new  and  better  life  begun — a  life  of  perfect 
and  unmarred  union  and  communion  with  that 
Saviour  which  is  to  continue  forever,  that  grace 
seems  to  envelope  the  person  of  her  who  has  been 
taken  away,  when  ever  I  recall  it  to  mind,  with 
a  halo  of  brightness  and  glory,  and  how  can  we 
mourn?  The  recollection  of  her,  suggests  with  a 
wonderful  vividness  and  impressive  force  that  de- 
claration divinely  inspired,  'Blessed  are  the  dead 
which  die  in  the  Lord'  'their  works  do  follow 
them.'  How  rich  was  that  life  in  the  savor  which 
it  exhaled  all  along  its  way — a  life  evidently  lived 
as  Paul's  was  'by  the  faith  of  the  son  of  God  who 
loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us. '  Well  I  re- 
member the  impression  which  I  received  the  first 
time  I  met  her,  forty  years  ago.  We  ministers  of 
Milwaukee  had  driven  down  to  Southport  for  a 
meeting  of  our  General  Convention    and  having  a 


IMPRESSIONS  Of-  LIFE  AND  UiARACTER 

vacant  seat,  invited  Mrs.  Porter  to  ride  with  us  on 
our  return.  She  did  so  and  made  herself  in  a  very 
natural  way  the  center  of  conversation.  The  sim- 
ple expression  of  her  strong,  unfaltering  faith  and 
the  habit  which  had  become  a  second  nature  to 
her,  of  considering  all  undertakings  in  a  spirit  of 
childlike  trust,  rather  than  in  the  light  of  circum- 
stances or  probabilities  were  very  striking  and  gave 
a  new  aspect  to  the  work  of  the  ministery  then 
recently  begun  by  me.  I  am  conscious  of  a  bene- 
fit from  that  conversation  running  thro'  all  my 
life.  In  all  my  subsequent  interviews  with  her, 
the  same  qualities  have  seemed  to  characterize 
her.  How  signally  that  faith  sustained  her  through 
the  wonderful  activities  and  manifold  achievements 
of  her  career  on  earth.  In  the  delightful  memories 
of  her  Christian  devotion,  it  is  your  privilege  to 
have  her  still  with  you.  God  gives  you  this  rich 
consolation.  May  you  find  it  an  abiding  support. 
"Then  for  the  sense  of  loneliness  which  must  at 
times  come  over  you,  the  same  grace  of  God,  which 
so  nerved  and  steadied  and  soothed  her  spirit  will 
bring  you  needed  and  timely  relief.  Christ  will 
reveal  himself  a  companion  in  place  of  her  who  has 
been  withdrawn  and  will  lead  you  by  the  same 
way  which  she  went,  the  way  which  He  opened  to 
the  same  haven  of  bliss.  I  cannot  ask  that  God 
will  hasten   the    passage,  but  I   do    fervently    pray 


322  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

that  He  will  so  lighten  and  cheer  the  way  that 
you  shall  have  no  sense  of  weariness  or  of  impa- 
tience, while  you  rejoice  in  the  blessed  attractions 
of  the  Christian's  hope,  for  your  children's  sake 
and  for  the  Master's  sake,  be  content  to  linger 
with  us  yet  a  few  good  years  longer. 

"It  was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  be  in  Chicago,  and 
to  join  with  others  in  such  tokens  of  respect  and 
regard  as  we  could  show  to  the  remains  of  our 
dear  one,  beloved  and  sainted. 

Affectionately  your  brother, 

A.  L.  Chapin." 
"My  Dear  Friends: 

"This  17th  day  of  January  I  must  write.  Would 
that  I  and  Mrs.  S.  might  sit  with  you  in  silence, 
while  a  large  number,  yet  a  small  proportion  of  the 
friends,  are  in  the  Memorial  services  at  Chicago. 
How  the  ends  of  the  earth  are  in  one  accord  to- 
day. You  with  some  truly  sympathizing  hearts 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  Henry  and  family  with  true 
sympathizing  spirits  in  China.  Then  here,  in  our 
church  that  has  enjoyed  so  much  from  her  and 
you,  and  the  whole  family  of  interested  ones  north 
and  south,  east  and  west  in  America  and  in  so 
many  of  the  missionary  fields  round  the  globe. 
We  all  are  drawn  nearer  the  throne  because  her 
brave  heart  was  ever  inspiring  fresh  assurance  of 
the  victories  being,  and  to  be,  achieved.      There  is 


IMPRES  P  ill  li  AND  CHARACTER 

a  grand  fitness  in  her  going  first  ts  this  world 

wide  family.     Her  entrance  into  the  pr<  [the 

King,  echoes  to  us  all  the  ringing  cheer  II<-  gave  so 

long  ago,  *I  have  overcome  '     Yes  blessed  glorious 
fact   She  has  overcome  all.    She  began  the  victoi 

over  herself.  She  went  on  conquering  as  a  teacher, 
as  a  pioneer, as  a  Home  missionary, as  a  mother, then 

Dp  and  down  the  land  in  churches  north,  and  chur- 
ches south  With  soldiers  and  with  freedmen,in  hos- 
pitals and  barracks,  in  homes,  Sabbath  schools  and 
churches,  everywhere  inspiring  and  achieving  victory 
oversin,  unbelief  and  Satan.  Such  victories  has  she 
wrought  through  her  children  in  the  churches  in 
America  and  on  the  Foreign  Fields.  No  Joan  of  Arc 
has  like  her  led  a  steady  campaign  for  80  years  of 
victory.  None  but  a  Christian,  and  she  rilled  daily 
with  the  sacred  oil  of  God's  almighty  spirit. 
Verily  she  was  ready  to  complete  all  in  conquering 
the  last  enemy,  and  the  garland  is  her's.  Oh!  for 
a  double  portion  of  that  spirit  on  us  all.  While 
the  crown  is  already  on  her  brow. 

'Immauel's  seal  of  righteousness  and  love 
And  everlasting  joy  upon  her  head.' 

"Mrs.    Smith   sends    sincerest    regards    and    we 

both  at    once  sympathize   with   you  and  rejoice  in 

the  victory  by   her  achieved.      May   the   same     in 

due  time  be  yours,  and  ours. 

Very  truly  and  fraternally, 

Moses  Smith." 


324  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"Gorham,  Me.,  Nov.  J 2th,  1888. 
"My  Dear  Friend,  Mr.  Porter:  — 

"In  the  months  which  have  passed  since  Mrs. 
Porter  went  from  earthly  presence  to  the  heavenly 
home,  my  heart  has  often  prompted  me  to  write 
you,  not  to  comfort  you,  for  you  have  no  need  of 
that  but  to  express  a  sense  of  personal  loss,  and 
my  appreciation  of  the  wonderful  symetry  of  the 
character  of  your  dear  one  and  to  tell  you  some 
of  the  things  which  come  to  me  as  pictures  of  her 
in  days  gone. 

"When  I  first  saw  Mrs.  Porter,  now  over  thirty 
years  ago  she  was  in  that  period  of  life  when  all 
its  present  burdens  press  the  heaviest. 

"Some  of  her  family  were  young  and  all  where 
much  thought  and  earnest  care  and  even  many 
steps  were  needed,  but  I  well  remember  I  often 
wondered  that  she  never  seemed  burdened  by  her 
own  cares.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  she  ever 
spoke  of  them.  Those  years  in  the  Edwards  Church 
must  have  been  of  great  trial,  but  she  never  show- 
ed it.  She  possessed  that  wonderful  quality  of 
'A  heart  at  leisure  from  itself 
'To  soothe  and  sympathize.' 

"In  those  years  I  was  often  at  the  home  on  Hal- 
sted  Street,  and  I  never  saw  anything  but  perfect 
peace  of  heart  and  manner.  I  have  often  thought 
of  it  in  these  later  years,  as  I  passing  through  this 


IMPRESSIONS  Oh'  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

same  period  of  care.      It  seems  to  me  as  I  look   at 

those  days  that  everything  was  .lone  at  home  that 

needed  to  be,  for  as  the  wife  and  mother  she  was 
the  heart  and  soul  of  her  home,  and  yet  everything 
outside  too.  I  know  she  went  to  the  prayer-meet- 
ings, sewing-circles,  visited  the  sick  and  poor,  and 
always  she  carried  with  her  that  same  atmosphere 
of  peace. 

"And  too  those  were  the  days  of  sickness  and 
death.  How  calm  you  all  were.  The  precious 
older  daughter  and  the  sweet  little  Robbie  both 
went  home  where  she  has  found  them.  I  wonder 
if  you  remember  a  scene  which  has  always  been 
fixed  upon  my  memory,  when  one  Sabbath  after- 
noon you  received  to  the  Church  visible  a  young 
man.  There,  in  his  room  as  the  afternoon  faded 
away,  a  communion  service  was  held.  You  and 
Mrs.  Porter  and  James,  (I  think,)  my  father  and 
mother  and  I  were  there,  and  there  may  have  been 
others.  As  we  were  leaving  Mrs.  Porter  said  to 
the  sick  one,  "If  you  reach  heaven  before  I  do, 
give  our  salutations  to  Lottie  and  tell  her  to  be  wait- 
ing to  open  the  door  of  heaven  for  me,'  And  after 
thirty  years  even  tho'  you  must  all  grieve  for  her, 
you  can  but  rejoice  that  she  can  see  again  the  chil- 
dren who  must  have  been  waiting  for  her. 

"Then  in  'War  Time'  how  she  came  to  see  us 
and  told  of  what  she  had  seen,  but  never  one  word 


B2C  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

of  how  her  own  family  were  broken  up  scattered, 
of  what  joy  it  would  be  to  gather  them  all  together 
again,  but  always  of  His  work. 

"And  again  I  see  her  as  the  years  pass  on  and  as 
I  arrange  her  hair  a  little,  for  she  was  one  to  whom 
it  was  a  pleasure  to  give  little  personal  attentions, 
she  spoke  of  how  she  had  missed  M.  doing  such 
things  for  her  but  added  'Heaven  is  as  near  to 
China  as  to  Texas.'  So  she  has  lived,  always  ready 
for  the  summons,  always  in  her  very  peace  and  by 
the  presence  of  Christ  in  her  ever  more  than  by- 
word (tho'  she  never  failed  there)  the  bringing  to 
others  the  Saviour  in  whom  she  rested. 
"Yours  Affectionately, 

Mary  L.  Huntington." 
"Sherwood,   Temi.,  Feb.  14th,  1888. 
"Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  D.  D., 
"Dear  Friend:  — 

"We  have  seen  in  several  papers  a  notice  of  Mrs. 
Porter's  death,  and  have  received  from  Chicago 
one  of  the  chaste  and  beautiful  cards  sent  out  from 
there  to  inform  friends  of  her  departure.  We  can 
however  hardly  make  it  seem  possible  that  she  has 
gone  from  earth.  In  truth  she  has  not  gone,  for 
the  spirit  and  influence  of  God's  saints  remain  al- 
ways, to  cheer  and  comfort  those  who  remain. 

"Surely  it  is  so  with  her.  That  sweet,  gentle  spirit, 
which  for  fourscore  years  made  the  earth  brighter 


IMPRESSIONS  Of-  ui-ii  AND  CHARACTER 

and  better,  still  dwells  as  a  gracious  benediction 
among  us  all.  If  ever  there  was  a  saint  on  earth, 
surely  she  was  one,  with  all  the  elements  of  saint- 
hood. If  ever  there  was  a  long  life  spent  unselfish- 
ly and  helpfully,  'doing  good  as  she  had  opportun- 
ity,'  surely  this  was  one.  How  many  kind  words, 
how  many  gentle  yet  powerful  and  stimulating  ut- 
terances, how  many  modest,  unobtrusive,  self  for- 
getful actions  of  kindness  and  Christian  love  are 
loaded  as  fruits  of  the  tree  of  life,  upon  the  boughs 
of  those  eighty  years,  reaching  out  with  their  shade 
and  shelter  and  comfort  and  fruitfulness,  into  the 
North,  South,  East  and  West. 

"They  are  truly  immortal  fruits,  not  subject  to 
the  law  of  decay  as  the  earthly  fruits  and  vegetables 
are.  Such  'fruits  of  the  Spirit'  have  in  them  the 
seeds  of  eternity;  and  though  the  kindly  lips  may  be 
closed,  and  the  helpful,  ministering  hands  be  laid 
to  rest,  the  seeds  will  still  live,  growing  and 
fruiting  in  many  human  hearts,  until  the  angels 
shall  sing  'Harvest  Home.' 

"It  is  no  extravagant  praise  nor  exaggerated  en- 
corium  to  say  that  I  have  never  known  another 
human  life  so  full  of  constant  labor  and  love  and 
ministry  for  so  long  a  time.  Those  eventful  eighty 
years,  so  full  of  wonderful  things  in  God's  provi- 
dential rule,  surely  ought  to  go  upon  the  records 
of  history.     The  memoir  of   Mrs.  Porter  ought   to 


328  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

be  published  as  a  speaking  memorial  of  her  Chris- 
tian life,  to  encourage  and  stimulate  other  hearts. 
Your  Fellow  Worker  for  the  Master, 

Stanley  E.  Lathrop." 

"Sharpsdale,  Feb.  12th,   1888. 
"My  Dear  J. 

"Your  loving  letter  was  brought  yesterday.  How 
much  your  great  bereavement  differs  from  the 
many — many  sad  ones. 

"Just  now  I  think  of  it  as  a  shadow  yet  a  won- 
derfully thin  one,  through  which  the  hallowed  out- 
lines of  the  saintly  one  are  very  plain.  The  many 
words  of  loving  sympathy  have  not  escaped  the 
eyes  of  Martha  or  me.  What  a  broad  horizon 
the  loved  one  had!' 

"And  one  idea  came  to  me  as  I  sat  reading  Dr. 
Barrows'  truthful  and  tender  tribute.  Not  one 
single  overdrawn  comment  can  be  made  of  her. 
From  the  first,  like  the  never  changing  star  of 
the    north,  her  faith  never  changed. 

"In  all  my  acquaintance,  I  know  no  other,  who 
seemed  to  me  so  completely  tempered  by  the 
spirit  of  the  meek  and  lowly  one.  One  who  under 
all  circumstance,  whether  on  the  tented  field,  amid 
the  shriek  of  the  bursting  shell,  or  surrounded  by 
some  loving  group,  a  praying  circle  ever  the  same. 

"  Tempered,  that  is  the  word,  like  a  splendid 
piece  of  metal  that  fears  the  edge  of  nothing  hard 


IMPRES  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

or   soft.      And  I  was  so  fortunate    as  to  know    her, 

well,  and  love  her,  and  even  to  be  loved  by  her. 

How  few  have  such    great    cause    to    be    thankful! 

MYes,  my  dear  we  will  sit  down  in  some  very 
quiet  place  and  together  read  her  last  heavenly 
words,  and  with  the  love  which  is  part  of  her 
sweet  self,  tell  over  the  wonderful  story  of  her  life. 

"One  of  the  pleasantest  things  of  any  which  I 
can  think  of  was,  that  your  precious  mother  came 
and  occupied  our  little  shebang  at  Larkinsville. 
It  was  worth  all  my  time  and  service  to  get  such 
a  blessed  visitor  as  that. 

"Surely  the  good  lives  after  the   saints   such  as 

she  are  gone.      I  weep  with  you    and    am   always. 

Your  loving, 

H.  T.  Chappell." 

uBeloit%  Wis.,  i5thy  m 
"Rev.  Dr.  Jeremiah  Porter, 

"Honored  and  Dearly  Beloved  Sir:  — 

"Pres.  Chapin  informs  us  that  the  word 
has  come,  that  he  and  Prof.  Porter  are  to  go  and 
join  those  who  will  lay  to  rest  the  mortal  remains 
of  one  whose  influence  will  live  over  all  the  earth  to 
which  the  sunlight  comes  for  twelve  hours  after  it 
has  looked  upon  her  resting  place.  From  the  St. 
Mary's  to  the  Rio  Grande,  fr<»m  St.  Augustine  to 
Pekin,  the  atmosphere  is  sweeter  and  purer  be- 
cause her  spirit  has  been  there. 


330  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"What  a  holy  privilege  has  been  yours  for  half  a 
century  to  share  that  influence.  We  that  were 
round  about  do  not  envy  you  ;  we  do  not  envy  your 
children.  We  bless  the  good  Lord  that  permitted 
you  to  live  in  that  halo  of  light,  and  to  contribute 
by  words  and  works  of  loving  kindness,  and  yet 
more  by  that  loving  kindness  itself,  to  that  love, 
joy  and  peace,  which  we  have  seen  filling  that  life, 
so  intent  and  yet  so  serene,  and  the  memory  of 
which  now  hangs  so  invitingly  over  the  Gates  of 
Pearl.  We  think  thankfully  how  that  memory 
will  join  with  the  loving  offices  of  children  and 
friends  to  bless  your  remaning  days,  and  we  pray 
that  for  us  all  there  may  be  a  like  abundant  en- 
trance. 

"We  remain    with    most  affectionate  sympathy 

and  respect. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Joseph  Emerson." 
"Melrose,  Mass.,  Feb.  3rd,  1888. 
"My  Dear  Mr.  Porter: 

"The  announcement  of  Mrs.  Porter's  departure 
has  awakened  within  me  a  throng  of  tender  mem- 
ories. I  recall  all  that  she  was  in  the  dark  days 
of  the  war,  and  remember  the  sweet  patience,  the 
uniform  gentleness  and  untiring  diligence  that  char- 
acterized her,  as  if  the  whole  of  my  acquaintance 
with  her  were  a  thing  of  yesterday. 


IMPRESSIONS  OP  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER         B81 

"What  a  power  she  was   in  the  hospitals.      The 

poor  fellows  turned  their  pallid  faces  to  hers,  in 
dumb  beseeching,  which  was  speedily  supplanted 
by  a  look  of  hope  and  trust.  How  many  of  them 
have  welcomed  her,  when  she  entered  the  immor- 
tal life  How  many  received  from  her  the  only 
Christian  ministrations  they  ever  knew,  and  were 
won,  by  her  motherly  kindness,  to  a  comprehen- 
sion of  the  love  of  the  Infinite,  who  is  to  the  world 
not  only  the  Infinite  Father,  but  the  Infinite  mother 
also. 

"It  seems  to  me  that  her  biography,  like  that  of 
our  Lord,  may  be  condensed  into  one  phrase  'she 
went  about  doing  good.'  I  knew  her  chiefly  and 
best  during  the  war.  But  I  do  not  forget  that  her 
war  record  was  but  one  chapter  in  her  useful  life, 
which  was  filled  to  the  utmost  with  love  to  God 
and  man.  For  such  as  she  there  is  no  death. 
'What  seems  so  is  transition.'  She  carried  so 
much  of  heaven  with  her,  that  I  can  hardly  con- 
ceive of  any  change  being  necessary  to  her  feeling, 
or  the  law  of  her  life,  when  she  exchanged  earth 
for  heaven.  'She  bowed  her  head  at  passing  out, 
we  think  and  straight  way  found  herself  within 
another  chamber  of  the  King,  larger  than  this,  and 
lovelier. ' 

"My  dear  Mr.  Porter,  I  will  not  mock  you  with 
any  words  of  consolation.     The  separation  between 


332  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PUKTtK 

you  and  the  beloved  wife  of  many  years  will  not 
be  long.  Both  you  and  I  are  nearing  the  low  gate- 
way which  swings  outward  once  for  every  human 
being  and  there  you  will  be  reunited.  For,  God 
keeps  a  niche  in  heaven  to  shrine  our  idols. 

'And  albeit  he  breaks  them  to  our  faces, 

And  denies  that  our  close  kisses  should   impair 

their  white, 
I  know  we  shall  behold  them  raised  complete. 
Glorified  and  singing  in  the  great  God-light.' 

With  tender  sympathy,  Yours  truly, 

Mary  A.  Livermore." 

"Oakland,  CaL,  Feb.  loth,  1888. 
"My  Dear  Mr.  Porter: 

"Mr.  B.  with  his  wonted  thoughtful- 
ness,  has  sent  me  tidings  of  the  loss  which  has 
come  to  you  and  all  of  us,  and  also  your  address, 
thus  enabling  me  to  write  you. 

"And  I  am  trying  to  realize  that  your  lovely 
wife  walks  this  earth  no  more.  Again  and  again 
her  sweet  face  comes  before  me,  bringing  with  it 
the  loveliest  memories  of  her  gentle  presence,  and 
her  tender  Christian  character.  She  was  a  beauti- 
ful woman, one  of  the  King's  daughters,  all  glorious 
within.'  I  cannot  think  of  mourning  for  her;  it 
would  seem  unfit.  Nor,  I  am  sure  do  you.  She 
has  gone  to  the  home  prepared  for  her,  and  only  a 
little  while  before  you  and  all  of  us  go  also. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 

"I  wonder  if  a  woman  anywhere,  ever  did  so 
much  and  went  through  so  much  as  she  did,  and 
kept  so  gentle,  so  sweet,  and  so  tender. 

Yours  Always, 
Sarah  Edward  Henshaw." 

"NorthficlJ,  Jan.   l6th%   1 888. 

Dear  Cousin:  — 

"Often  since  the  day  bringing  tidings  of 
the  sweet  saints  translation  have  our  thoughts 
reverted  to  early  days  and  the  blessed  memories 
of  her  presence  and  spirit.  That  her  meek,  yet 
truthful  soul  had  an  abundant  entrance  upon  the 
everlasting  glories  who  can  doubt?.  Such  sim- 
ple majestic  faith  as  hers  I  don't  think  I  have  ever 
met,  or  at  least  felt  as  she  made  me  feel  it.  What 
a  benediction  her  life  has  been,  and  to  how  many. 
She  was,  as  Tennyson  says,  'Interpreter  between 
Gods  and  men, 

'Who  looked  all  native  to  her  place,  and  yet 
On  tiptoe  seemed  to  touch  upon  a  sphere 
Too  gross  to  tread. ' 

"In  the  world  she  was,  as  so  many  knew  to 
their  comfort,  yet  not  at  all  of  it,  so  sweetly  sep- 
arate; and  now  her  life,  so  far  as  earth  goes,  is 
rounded  out,  her  memory  imperishable,  and  her 
works  do  follow  her. 

"For  you,  dear  cousin,  as  for  all  her  children  may 
I    not    add.    from    the     same     passage    as    above, 


334  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

'Happy  he  with  such  a  mother;  faith  in  woman- 
kind beats  with  his  blood,  and  truth  in  all  things 
high  comes  easy  to  him.'  How  you  will  all  miss 
her,  for  a  little  while,  even  tho'  she  leaves  a  herit- 
age so  rich  and  precious  that  it  will  last  thro'  all 
your  pilgrimage,  until  you  meet  her  again  within 
'the  gates  of  day,'  and  in  His  blessed   presence. 

"We  commend  you  all  to   our   Father,  the  God 
of  all  comfort. 

Very  Truly  Yours, 

E.  M.  &  A.  T.  Williams." 


APPENDIX 

IN  MEMORIAM 

eliza  chappell  porter 
^:t  80. 

Funeral  services  at  the  New  England  Congregational 
Church,  Chicago,  Illinois. 

The  funeral  services  of  the  late  Eliza  ChappeU  Porter, 
wife  (»f  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter,  i>.  i>..  were  held  at  The 
New  England  Congregational  Church,  January  17,  1888. 
M  is.  porter  died  at  Santa  Barbara,  ( 'alifornia,  where  the 
venerable  clergyman,  her  husband,  is  now  residing  in  fee- 
ble health,  winch  prevented  him  from  accompanying  the 
remains  to  Chicago. 

The  Impressive  services  were  conducted  by  Pastor  Ar- 
thur Little  and  were  participated  In  by  Rev.  E.  F.  Wil- 
liams. I).  ])  Pics.  F.  \V.  Fisk  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
.loim    h.  Barrows. 

After  the  reading  of  the  selections  from  the  word  of 
God,  Pastor  Little  said :  "I  do  not  now  recall  any  cler- 
gyman  whose  life  has  been  so  much  identified   with  the 

active  life  of  Chicago  as  that  of  our  brother.  Doctor  Fisk, 
and  it  is  very  tit  ting  that  he  should  speak  some  words  t«» 
ns  on  this  occasion. 

ProfeSSOT  Fisk  made  the  following  remarks: 

The  outward  events  of  an  earthly  life  at  tin  long 
may  be  soon  recounted;  and  though  perhapefew  women 
have  lived  so  busy  and   varied  a  life  as  the  dear  friend 

335 


336  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  POKTLR 

whose  beloved  form  lies  before  us,  yet  the  external  history 
of  her  life  may  be  given  in  a  few  words.  Born  at  Gene- 
seo,  New  York,  the  5th  of  November.  1807,  of  parents  of 
Huguenot  and  Pilgrim  descent,  and  given  as  liberal  an  ed- 
ucation as  her  frail  health  would  permit,  Miss  Eliza 
Chapped  at  the  age  of  22  years,  went  at  the  invitation  of 
Mr.  Robert  Stuart.  Agent  of  the  American  Fur  Company, 
to  Mackinaw  to  establish  on  that  Island  a  school  for 
young  children.  Three  years  later,  in  June,  1S>3,  she  ac- 
companied Major  Wilcox  and  family  to  Chicago,  and  in 
the  following  September  opened  a  school — the  first  taught 
here — in  a  rude  log  house  near  the  Military  Reservation. 
In  January  following  this  school  was  removed  into  the 
little  building  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  that  had 
just  before  been  organized  in  Fort  Dearborn  by  the  Rev. 
Jeremiah  Porter. 

"This  school,  greatly  prospering  under  Miss  ChappelTs 
administration,  she  soon  opened  another  for  young 
ladies,  especially  for  those  intending  to  teach,  and  thus 
she  was  the  teacher  of  the  first  normal  training  in  Chi- 
cago. 

"  On  the  loth  of  June,  1S35,  she  was  married  to  the  Rev. 
Jeremiah  Porter  and  entered  with  joy  on  her  new  duties 
as  the  wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  only  church  in  Chicago. 
How  efficiently,  and  with  what  loving  ministrations  she 
performed  her  duties  and  in  the  successive  pastorates  of 
her  husband  at  Peoria,  and  Green  Bay  for  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  over  the  Edwards  Church  in  this  city,  and  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  those  who  knew  her  well  in  these  vari- 
ous relations  bear  abundant  testimony. 

"Early  in  our  civil  war  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  proffered 
their  services  to  the  cause  and  became,  the  one,  Chaplain 
of  the  First  Illinois  Light  Artillery,  of  which  their  son 
James  was  a  member;  the  other  a  most  efficient  agent 
of  the  sanitary  commission.  How  faithfully  and  efficient- 
ly they  labored  throughout  the  war,  reaching  and  minis- 


APPENDIX 

toting  to  the  sick,  Hi"  wounded  and  th<-  dying,  alike  to 
Mend  and  foe,  will  be  recounted  by  our  friend,  Dr.  Bar- 
rows,  who    will    also    give    Hi<-   details    <  >f    Mrs.  Port 

early  life  and  labors  and  ol  her  last  h<»urs.  in  tin-  Au- 
tumn following  the  close  of  tin-  war  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Por- 
ter went  to  the  Rio  Grande,  one  as  tin-  agenl  < >f  the  chrte- 
lan  commission,  the  other  in  tin-  service  of  the  sanitary 
commission,  to  labor  among  the  troops  stationed  at  Ft, 
Brown.  There  they  were  as  busy  and  happy  as  ever, 
preaching  and  teaching,  having  opened  a  school  in  tin- 
building  known  as  tin-  Rio  Grande  Female  Institute. 
which  had  been  erected  by  Miss  Rankin,  but  closed  dur- 
ing the  war.  There  Mrs.  Porter,  with  the  enthusiasm  ol 
her  early  years  as  a  teacher  <ii<i  most  efficient  service. 
Thus,  in  the  words  of  her  husband,  tjiey  'sowed  beside  all 
waters,'  preaching  and  teaching  until  April,  1806.  They 
were  then  recalled  i>y  their  respective  commissions,  ami. 
having  made  provision  for  the  continuance  ol  the  school, 
returned  to  their  northern  home,  a  few-  months  later 
found  them  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  where  for  two  yean  Mr. 
Porter,  aided  by  such  a  wife  as  few  pastors  ever  had.  dis- 
charged with  useful  enthusiasm  his  duties  as  pastor  of 
the  Congregational  Church  in  that  place.  Bu1  soon 
through  the  argent  solicitations  of  friends  both  at  the 

North  and  at  the  South.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  were  In- 
duced to  return  to  Brownsville,  Texas.  Mr.  Porter,  under 
a  commission  from  the  American  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety to  re-build  the  waste  places,  while  Mrs.  Porter,  with 
the  aid  of  two  lady  teachers  who  accompanied  them,  was 
to  have  charge  of  the  seminary  formerly  under  her  care 
in  addition  to  his  duties  as  pastor.  Mr.  Porter  also  acted 
aplain  of  the  troops  at  Ft    Brown. 

"This  led  to  his  appointment    by  the  Senate  on  the  n ©■ 

ommendatlon  of  President  Grant,  to  a  Chaplaincy  in  the 
Regular  Army  in  is7<>.  Having  made  suitable  provision 
for  her  school,  Mrs.  Porter  accompanied  her  husband  to 


338  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

Ft.  Sill  in  the  Indian  Territory  to  which  he  was  ordered 
as  Chaplain.  There  they  labored  two  years  with  the 
colored  troops  preaching  and  teaching  a  day  school  for 
children  and  an  evening  school  for  colored  soldiers.  But 
the  climate  and  her  self-sacrificing  labors  for  others  made 
such  inroads  upon  Mrs.  Porter's  health  that  in  February 
1st'..  Mr.  Porter  was.  at  his  own  request  transferred  to 
the  Chaplaincy  at  Ft.  Russell,  near  Cheyenne,  Wyoming 
Territory.  Mrs.  Porter,  though  enfeebled  in  body,  yet 
with  characteristic  fortitude  and  courage,  accompanied 
her  husband  in  the  long  journey. 

"Mr.  Porter  was  retired  from  service  by  Act  of  Con- 
gress in  1882,  and  thereafter  they  made  their  home  with 
their  son  Edwards  in  Detroit.  In  order  to  escape  the  se- 
verity of  our  Northern  climate  they  spent  their  winters 
mostly  at  the  South,  still  busy  in  preaching  and  teaching 
as  Providence  opened  the  way.  While  among  us  also 
they  were  no  less  intent  on  doing  the  Master's  business. 
They  had  in  advanced  years  given  their  only  daughter, 
Mary,  and  their  youngest  son,  Henry,  to  missionary 
work  in  China.  They  had  devoted  no  small  part  of  their 
lives  to  missionary  labors  at  home,  and  they  would  spend 
their  last  years  in  the  same  blessed  service.  Their  occa- 
sional presence  among  us  has  been  to  us  all  I  am  sure  a 
benediction.  The  delightful  reception  given  them  by  our 
National  Council  at  its  recent  session  in  this  city  evinced 
the  affectionate  and  reverential  regard  which  for  their 
works  they  were  held  among  all  our  churches.  Their 
Christian  sympathies  and  prayers  and  labors  took  in  the 
world.  In  a  message  to  the  women  of  Wisconsin  engaged 
in  the  work  of  home  missions,  Mrs.  Porter,  last  autumn, 
sent  a  most  inspiring  appeal  urging  them  to  be  strong 
and  of  good  courage,  and  to  remember  the  last  promise 
of  the  Lord:  'Lo!  I  am  with  you  alway.  even  unto  the 
end.'  Then  after  quoting  several  promises  of  Divine  help 
she  closed  her  message  with  these  words:     "Surely  these 


4PPENDIX 

promises  are  enough.  Let  us  take  bold  upon  then  and 
do  with  oar  might  what  "m-  hands  find  t<»  do;  for,  be- 
hold, the  bride-groom  cornel  b.' 

"To  the  Woman's  Board  ol  sflssons  ol  the  Interior, 
lire.  Porter's  words  and  prayers  were  no  less  an  aid  and 
an  Inspiration.  Her  strong  faith  and  wise  councils  Im- 
parted strength  and  courage.  'She  vrae  >neol  i  be 
officers,  •!  Bolide,  moving  on  in  advance  and  almosi  with- 
in thegates  of  the  other  world,  sending  back  i 
which  she  heard  there.1 

"S.-iys  snot  her,  'of  her  admonitions ;  two  were  with  us 
continually.  In  our  hearts  and  on  our  lips.'  They  w< 
'Plan great  tiling.'  'Whatsoever he salth unto  you,  <i<» 
it.'  How  characteristic  of  that  dear  woman.  'Whatso- 
ever he  sal  tii  unto  you,  do  it.'  ass  mark  .-it  once  ol  their 
appreciation  of  such  a  helper  and  of  their  loss  of  such  a 
friend,  they  requested  that  t hey  be  allowed  to  receive  the 
remains  on  their  arrival  in  the  city  and  to  care  for  them 
until  this  hour;  ami  also  t ii.it  they  i»"  permitted  as  a 
body  to  attend  this  service  with  the  family. 

uAs  we  glance  over  the  remarkable  Ufa  of  this  sainted 

woman,    our    first    thought    Is:     "How    much  >h»-  accom- 
plished In  her  four  score  years ;  so  full  of  service  and  self- 
sacrificing  labors  In  so  many  different  directions.    How 
she  able  to  do  so  much  In  such  a  frail  body  ?  Because 
>Im-  did  it  from  the  heart,  and  In  loving  service  for  the 
■faster.    When  the  heart  Is  In  the  work,  duties  become 
privileges     Thus  it  was  that  she  was  able  to  do  such  a 
marvelous   work  In  hospitals  during  the  war     When   I 
Bd  her  how  it  m  as  possible  for  her  to  endure  the  sight 
o  much  suffering  and  of  closing  the  eyes  In  death  of 
hundreds  of  our  soldiers— 1  think  they  amounted  to  about 
a  thousand  In  number,  If  I  remember  aright— she  replied 
that  she  never  once  thought  of  herself,  but  ministered  to 
the  suii'r:  as  If  I  h'\  w  are  her  own  sons. 

"But  with  all  her  tenderness  of  heart  and  gentlem 


3-40  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

spirit,  she  possessed  remarkable  firmness  and  tenacity  of 
purpose.  Firmly  grounded  in  Christian  doctrine  and 
principle,  she  would  like  the  willow  bend  to  adverse 
winds  while  remaining  steadfast  and  unyielding  in  prin- 
ciple. She  was  also' remarkable  for  her  joy  in  the  Lord. 
Naturally  of  a  sunny  disposition,  Grace  had  so  wrought 
upon  her  nature  that  her  life  grew  daily  into  a  joyfulness 
and  serenity  that  no  changes  and  afflictions  could  disturb. 
.She  had  been  often  chastened  of  the  Lord,  but  the  chas- 
tisements had  wrought  in  her  the  peaceable  fruits  of  right- 
eousness. Three  little  ones  they  had  laid  to  rest  at  Green 
Bay  ;  and  here  while  with  the  Edwards  Church  they  were 
called  within  a  few  days  to  part,  first,  with  their  little 
Robert,  and  then  with  their  daughter,  Charlotte,  just 
blooming  into  a  beautiful  womanhood.  As  I  stood  with 
them  in  their  home  and  gazed  with  them  upon  the  lovely 
features  of  their  departed  daughter,  I  was  amazed  at  the 
joyful  serenity  and  sweet  resignation  of  those  parents. 

"Thus  blessing  and  being  blessed  in  her  husband,  in  her 
family,  and  in  her  work,  carrying  with  her  light  and  joy 
wherever  she  went,  she  awaited  the  change  which  in  the 
course  of  nature  she  knew  conld  not  be  far  distant.  She 
goes  in  the  autumn  to  the  land  of  flowers,  and  there  sur- 
rounded with  every  comfort,  ministered  to  by  her  de- 
voted husband  and  her  daughter,  she  awaited  the  last 
earthly  change.  It  was  not  long  in  coming.  Her  last 
letter  was  to  her  son  in  this  city,  and  closed  with  the 
word  'rest' ;  so  expressive  of  her  own  abiding  rest  in  the 
Lord. 

"Her  life  was  filled  with  busiest  activities,  yet  always 
full  of  rest,  because  in  the  depths  of  her  own  being  she 
had  the  peace  of  God  that  passeth  all  understanding  fill- 
ing heart  and  mind ;  a  peace  that  was  soon  to  end  in 
bliss. 

'•Early  on  the  Sabbath  morning  of  the  New  Year,  with 
fullest  trust  in  her  Saviour,  whom  she  had  faithfully  and 


APPENDIX  M] 

joyfully  served  from  her  childhood,  calmly  bidding  adieu 
t<»  her  beloyed  husband  beside  whom  sin-  had  walked  in 
loving  symp.it  by  for  more  than  half  a  century,  she  gentlj 
fell  asleep  In  Jesus.  She  had  walked  with  God  and  was 
uotyforGod  had  taken  her.  What  a  legacy  of  prayers 
and  fragrant  memories  will  come  from  such  a  life  to  hus- 
band, daughter,  sons  and  other  relatives  1  it  would  seem 
as  u  the  \'  i>  Heavens  had  been  opened  to  us.  and  In  the 
light  of  its  glories  we  had  seen  how  beautiful  Is  a  life  that 

Is  hiil  with  (  hrist  in  <  b>d. 

May    the    blessings    of    God    the    Father     the    Bon    and 
the  Spirit   descend   upon   these  sorely   afflicted   ones,   and 

though  widely  separated  over  land  and  main,  may  they 
be  gathered  after  faithful  service  fur  the  Master,  a  re- 
united family  in  His  blessed  presence  where  is  fuDneSfl  Of 

joy  evermore. 

Rev.  .John    11.   Barrows    then    made    the   following  re- 
marks: 

"This  is  an  extraordinary  scene;  this  was  a  remark- 
able life:    the  occasion   which  assembles  us  has  unusual 

significance,  ami  since  the  events  which  tilled  the  eighty 
blessed  years  of  Bliss  ChappeU  Porter's  pilgrimage  from 

earth   to  heaven   would    require    a    volume  for  adequate 

treat  ment. 

"I  shall    at  this  time  summon  you  only  to  a  general 
j. am. ramie  view  of  her  prolonged  and  beautiful  <  hristian 

car.-,  r.  No  s  orthler  book  could  be  added  t<»  the  mission- 
ary literature  Of  the  nineteenth  century   than  one  which 

should  teii  the  story  of  this  beneficent  life.     Wnen  you 

il    the    chaii-.-    and    the    progl'CSS    which   those  f.uir- 

score  years  have  witnessed,  remembering  that  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Rochester,  New  fork,  where  her  youth  was 
spent  was  then  a  wild  fronttercountry,  and  that  she  looked 
her  last  "a  the  land  she  served  and  loved  three  thousand 
miles  to  the  westward,  amid  the  refinements  of  civilisation 
on  the  Pacific  shore;  when  you  recall  that  this  life  with 


BUZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

her  husband-  I  -  _  »ns  erf  the  Great 
\Vti»T  [  si:  _  -  dtical  times:  when  you 
ponder  the  meaning  of  the  h>  yet  that  the  hand 
which  is  end  -  in  this  casket  helped  to  lay  the  intel- 
ld  spiritual  foundations  of  all  that  is  noblest  in 
the  life  of  a  city,  now  hastening  toward  a  million  in  pop- 
ulation, and  with  incalculable  aha] wer  over  the 

life  of  half  a  score  of  majestic  commonwealths;  when 
yon  think  how  folly  Mrs.  Porter's  various  ministries 

ner  and  pastor's  wife  reprea  utl  na  at  their  best  the 
home  missionary  enthusiasm  and  consecrath  n  which  are 
the  life  and  the  Spiritual  glory  of  t  -       ;  Valley  : 

when  yon  realize  the  service  she  rendered  t< »  the  armies 
which  saved  our  National:  >  _ 

Missions  which  has  added  new  splendor  Church  of 

her  Master,  and  when   besides    all   this,   you   estimate 
rightly  the  modest,  cheerful,  unselfish  an  i  devoted  spirit 
h  entered  into  these  many     .;: vit :■.-».  ill  thank 

God,  as  I  do,  that  yon  have  b  t  1  *■  >rne  knowledge  of  one 
whose  career  of  blessir  g  weighs  far  more  as  an  argument 
in  favor  of  the  Divine  origin  of  Christianity  than  all  the 
labored  reasonings  and  bitter  declamations  of  nnoeJieJ 
weigh  against  it. 

•  ■  \Y\-  ;,:•-  i. ...:  >-;rpr>.   1:  rn  tli    t  im     the  life  which 

the  best  blood  of  the  Hu- 
guenots and  Pilgrims,  and  that  the  early  influences  which 
moulded  her  character  were  propheti:  of  a  noteworthy 
future.    One  of  a  large  family.  -  tu  frontier  hard- 

ships increased  by  the  death  of  her  father  when  she  was 
;ng,  Eliza  Chappell  was  taught  and  loved  by  a 
devoted  Christian  mother.       There  was  no  indication 
from  the  beginning  that  hen         -  if  in- 

dulgent life, but  all  things  pointed  toward  strenuous  and 
and  self-denying  toil.    But  before  she  could  her 

life-work  the r  :he  diseipl:  >ng  years  of  inval- 

:..-:...   sometimes   Baying    d   have  seen  the  Lord:'   and 


APPENDIX 

there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  experiences  of  her  young 
womanhood,  which  would  read  as  one  dear  to  h  r  writes, 
iikc  a  chapter  of  Madame  Guyon's  Ufe,'  refined  In  r  spirit- 
ual perceptions,  confirmed  her  <  Ihristian  faith  Into  an  im- 
movable certainty  and  fitted  her  for  the  next  great  period 
of  her  development  when  she  came  under  the  Influent 
that  greatest  of  modem  preachers,  the  greatest,  judged 
by  the  tangible  results  of  his  life  visible  to-day,  I  mean 
of  course  President  Charles  <;.  Pinny.  In  isi".t  and 
*90  we  see  her  In  Rochester,  New  York,  laboring  with  this 
apostle  In  the  revival  which  was  the  fountain  of  more 
other  revivals  than  any  other  work  of  grace  with  which 
we  have  in  this  century  been  familiar. 

"From  this  time  on  her  history  is  one  succession  of 
Christian  labors,  usually  In  frontier  places,  to  which  she 
often  came  at  the  most  opportune  time.  This  young  sol- 
dier of  <  'lirist  whose  life  was  largely  spent  among  soldiers 
Is  thenceforward  i>usy  at  her  Master's  call  In  Mission- 
school  and  Fort  and  camp,  difficult  service  through  sixty 
years.  We  see  her  by  the  invitation  of  R< »i»<-rt  Stuart,  the 
partner  of  John  .Jacob  Astor, establishing  a  school  in  the 
American  l- nr<  Company's  Headquarters  at  Mackinac,  and 
here  she  was  first  met  by  Rev,  Jeremiah  Porter,  with  her 

Bible  in  her  hand. 

"Then  we  see  her,  in  .June.  im;:;.  in  the  family  Of  Major 
Wilcox  at  Fort  Dearborn,  a  half  mile  from  where  we  are 
bow  assembled,  opening  a  school  in  September  In  a  little 
loe;  ii<» use.  ontsiiic  the  Military  Reservation.  This 
afterward  transferred  to  the  tirst  Presbyterian  church  of 
which  she  was  an  original  member  and  to  whose  \\v<\ 
pa-tor.  Rev  Jeremiah  Porter  she  was  married  Inl888 
her  school  the  first  public  appropriation  was  made,  and 
asyon  well  know  she  was  the  first  In  the  great  army  of 
the  public  school  teachers  of  Chicago.    I  know  of  aotbing 

which   in   OUT  age  is   more  startlin-l.v    significant    Of    the 

i  ast  aess  and  Bwlftnessof  I  hechanges  which  have  marked 


344  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

these  wonderful  times,  than  the  fact  that  the  hand  which 
lies  before  us  was  laid  in  blessing  on  the  heads  of  the 
first  scholars  of  our  city.  It  was  a  great  joy  to  multi- 
tudes that  nearly  five  years  ago  Mrs.  Porter  and  her  hus- 
band were  with  us  at  the  celebration  of  fifty  years  of 
Church  life  in  Chicago,  and  it  was  charateristic  of  them 
both  that  their  exclamation  over  the  marvelous  growth 
of  the  half-contury  was  'What  God  had  wrought.' 

"  In  1861,  thirty-two  years  after  Mrs.  Porter  had  begun 
her  Christian  Missionary  life,  we  see  her  entering  the  of- 
fice of  the  United  States  Sanitary  Commission,  in  Chica- 
go, by  the  request  of  Judge  Skinner,  its  President,  and 
Mr.  E.  W.  Blatchford,  its  Secretary.  The  next  year  we 
see  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody  calling  at  Mr.  Porter's  house  in  Chi- 
cago with  the  news  of  his  (Mr.  Porter's)  appointment  as 
Chaplain  in  the  army,  where  he  served  in  the  Regiment  of 
Col.  J.  D.  Webster,  whose  widow  and  some  of  whose  sol- 
diers, are  with  us  to-day,  and  from  that  time  to  the  close 
of  the  war  the  history  of  our  beloved  and  departed  friend 
is  the  history  of  the  tenderest  ministrations  to  the  sick 
and  the  wounded  on  the  battle-field  and  in  the  hospital. 
Cairo,  Mound  City,  Atlanta.  Savannah,  Newbern,  these 
are  some  of  the  points  which  mark  her  life  as  a  minister 
of  charity  to  those  who  were  so  dear  to  her  in  that  war 
to  which  she  not  only  gave  a  faithful  husband  a  heroic 
son,  but  the  absorbing  devotion  of  her  intensely  patriotic 
and  sympathetic  heart.  We  are  told  that  her  hand 
closed  the  eyes  of  thirteen  hundred  soldiers  in  both  ar- 
mies. I  have  read  her  diary  for  one  month  in  1864,  and 
have  been  amazed  at  what  she  could  undergo  and  live, 
and  still  more  amazed  at  the  constant  hiding  of  herself 
in  the  modest  record,  and  ascribing  all  praise  to  another. 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  richly  she  earned  the  blessing  of 
those  ready  to  perish,  but  I  would  recall  to  you  that  in 
the  winter  of  1862  and  1863,  this  pioneer  of  pioneers  in- 
stinctively foremost  in  humble  service,  was  the  teacher  of 


APPENDIX 
the  children  of  slaves  In  tin-  tirst  freedman's  school-cabin 

d  In  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

14  The  war  ended  In  the  victory  of  the  cause  so  dear  to 
her  heart, and  after  I  wenty-one  yean  of  farther  christian 
labor  we  see  her  lying  <m  her  sick  1  m«i  in  the  land  of  fruits 
and  flowers  by  the  Western  Bee  In  the  honse  of  m  Mend 
to  whom  she  had  become  very  dear  through  the  render- 
ing of  characterictic  service  In  time  of  need.  On  Christ- 
mas morning  last,  Bhe  wrote  t<>  her  son  James  of  that 
day's 'hallowed  association  with  Borne,  chlldfa I,  hus- 
band beloved,  and  children  most  dear.'    Bhe  read  over 

again  <m  that  day.  in  the  beautiful  form  in  which  her  son 

had  sent  it  to  her,  the  hymn  we  shall  soon  hear  sung, 
'Abide  with  me,'  and  she  wrote  (Fasi  Palls  the  Eventide, 
Tin-  Darkness  Deepens,'  but  In  Him  who  cam)'  on  this 
glad  Christmas  day,  'a  li^ht  to  lighten  the  world/  there 
i.-  no  darkness.    'Even  at  evening  time  there  shall  be 

light.1     "And    when    he    who  is  our  life  shall  appear,  we 

also  shall  appear  with  him.'    'We  shall  be  like  him.' 

•it  was  early  In  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  Janu- 
ary, lsss.  that  to  her4The  Dew  ran  rose  bringing  in  the 

New  Year.'  Rev.  Dr.  Porter  writes  to  his  sons  of  her  tri- 
umphant faith  during  the  seven  days  of  great  suffering 

when  she  who  bad  dope  so   much  found  it  so  BWeet  to  lit- 
advein  his  hand  and  know   no   will  not    His,  and   re- 
lates th.it  'her  doings  were  not  what  she  alluded  fa 

the  ground  of  her  joy  hut  the  fullness  of  the  love  and 
of  Christ. '  And  the  daughter  writes  of  'the  tri- 
umph of  tin-  real  life  over  the  physical,  which  made  tin- 
hours  a  long  hymn  of  victory.'  'Solemnly,  and  with  such 
belief  in   the  possibility    of    happiness    as  on.-  COUld   Only 

gain  in  the  presence  of  such  triumphant  witness  of  the 

joy  of  the  Lord   WC  gave  each    other   the  greetings  Of   the 

New  Year.*    And  in  a  few  hours  the  mortal  was  gone 

and  immortality  put  on.' 

••it  was  ueii  to  sing  'Jerusalem  the  Qolden'at  thefu- 


346  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

neral  service  in  Santa  Barbara,  for  often  had  the  closing 
words  of  Bernard  of  Climy's  mighty  hymn  rung  out  from 
her  lips : 

"  Exult,  O  dust  and  ashes 

The  Lord  shall  be  thy  part, 
His  only,  His  forever, 
Thou  shalt  be  and  Thou  art." 

"As  Dr.  William  Porter  of  Beloit  College  writes,  'Her 
true  home  was  on  the  other  side.'  She  who  through  two 
generations  had  toiled  in  the  church  militant,  was  at  her 
ease  in  the  church  triumphant.  And  what  a  welcome  on 
the  New  Year's  morning  was  given  her!  The  ear  that 
had  heard  night  after  night  the  dreadful  roar  of  artillery 
is  listening  to  the  peaceful  hymns  of  immortality.  The 
eye  that  had  seen  so  much  of  human  sorrow  looks  upon 
her  Saviour  and  is  satisfied.  The  head  which  had  bowed 
in  so  many  humble  houses  of  worship  now  bends  before 
the  Great  white  Throne  in  the  Temple  of  which  the  Lamb 
is  the  Light  and  God  the  Glory.  And  you  friends  who 
carry  this  precious  body  to  the  tomb,  will  surely  say 
from  the  heart  whenever  you  visit  the  last  resting  place 
of  her  mortality  : 

"  Within  this  lowly  grave  a  Conquerer  lies — 
She  met  the  hosts  of  Sorrow  with  a  look 
That  altered  not  beneath  the  frown  they  wore; 
Her  soft  hand  put  aside  the  assault  of  wrath 

And  calmly  broke  in  twain 

The  fiery  shafts  of  pain. 
And  rent  the  nets  of  passion  from  her  path. 
By  that  virtuous  hand  despair  was  slain. 

"  With  love  she  vanquished  hate  and  overcame 
Evil  with  good  in  her  great  Master's  name. 
Her  glory  is  not  of  this  shadowy  state. 
Glory  that  with  the  fleeting  season  dies; 


APPENDIX  3  i ; 

Bat  wiicii  sin-  entered  .-it  the  sapphire  gate 

What  j « •  \  was  radiant  In  celestial  ej 

H<»\\  Heaven's  bright  depths  with  sounding  welcome 

rang 
And  ti«»w  era  of  Heaven  by  shining  hands  were  llnn^ — 

And  He  \\  'ho  long  before, 

Pain,  scorn  and  sorrow  bore, 
The  Mighty  Sufferer  with  aspect  sweet 
Smiled  un  the  timid  Btranger  from  His  seat. 


a  message  to  the  women  of  wisconsin 
By  Mrs.   Jeremiah    Porter 

To  the  Dear  Elect  Ladies  oi  this  Society,  and  all  who 
are  co-workers  with  them  In  this  blessed  Home  Mission- 
ary work:  "Grace,  Mercy  and  Peace  from  <;<»d  our 
Father,  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

As  I  cannot  In  person  meet  you  on  this  occasion  I  shall 
strive  to  i>«'  with  you  in  spirit  and  rejoice  in  your  order 

and    the  Systematic  manner  in   which  you   have  entered 

upon  work  s<>  Important  to  your  state,  and  listen  to 
your  reports  as  they  testify  of  work  well  dona  Needful 
work  indeed!  forfeit  not  said.  "H  any  provide  not  tor 
his  own,  and  specially  tor  those  of  his  own  house,  be  hath 
denied  the  faith,  and  ifl  worse  than  anlnfided?"— (1st  Tim- 
othy, 5:8  | 

The  causes  which  come  before  your  eyes  and  mind  to 
urgeyou  to  the  most  strenuous  efforts  In  this  work  are 
so  numerous  and  so  broad  that,  taken  ap  and  classified, 
each  might  call  ont  an  elabon  I  i  leave  that  to 

more  skilful  pens,  while  I  \\  ould  urge  my  Blsten  who  hold 
this  work  so  dear,  to  "Be  strong  and  of  good  courage," 


:■_-  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

(Deuterononir  .  and  to  rest  not  until  every  hamlet. 
home,  and  lumber  camp  in  Wisconsin  has  been  reached 
with  this  blessed  Gospel,  which  alone  can  purify  the  heart 
and  overcome  the  world,  so  that  no  one  reared  in  this 
grand  State  may  have  occasion  truthfully  -     «  N 

man  cared  for  my  soul"  <Psa.  142 :4i.  And  while  your 
right  hand  grasps  your  own  Wisconsin,  let  your  left  reach 
out  after  the  whole  of  our  dear  native  land :  and  your  en- 
larged contributions  and  fervent  pi  .  -  -  .  out  to  other 
lands  and  meet  the  earner  :  which  comes  to  us  on 
every  breeze,  "Come  over  into  Macedonia  and  help 
:sl6:9)- 

May  not  the  Shnnamite  mothers  love  be  wisely  imi- 
tated when  not  one  son  only,  but  millions  for  whom 
Christ  died  are  perishing  ? 

She  called  upon  her  husband  to  aid  as  she  must  go.  and 
she  could  not  be  reasoned  out  of  her  faith  as  to  time  and 
place,  and  while  not  only  her  husband  and  servant,  but 
the  prophet  also,  wondered  at  the  woman,  she  slacked 
not  her  riding  until  the  work  of  saving  her  son  wa~ 
comphshed.  So,  beloved,  looking  unto  Jesus,  may  you 
gather  strength  as  under  the  cross,  and  following  the 
Marys  to  his  open  sepulchre  hear  him  call  your  names. 
while  He  says  to  you,  "Go  tell  my  brethren  that  1  am 
risen."  (Mark  16). 

As  women  of  this  day  of  the  Lord,  let  us  magnify  our 
commission  and  claim  that  last  promise.  L  >.  I  am  with 
yon  alw.:  to  the  end."     i  Matthew  17:20). 

And  now  I  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  past,  and  say  for 
our  encouragement.  "Let  us  remember  all  the  way  the 
Lord  our  God  hath  led  us  for  more  than  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness."  <E>eut.  S:2>.  -Talk  ye  of  all  his  won- 
drous work  and  I  .."-".  this  name  togeth-:         I    ::ron. 

:• 

Let  us  look  upon  the  foundations  in  this  State,  laid  in 
poverty  and  weakness  but  in  faith  an  hen  such 


APPENDIX 

men  as  « Sary,  Peel  ;in<i  ( m-t  is  with  their  noble  wives  a  mi 
many  others,  "Chief  women  not  a  few,"  (Acts  r 
"wrought  in  obscure  places,  making  rough  ways  smooth 
and  crooked  places  straight,"  [Lake  3:5]  who  ■<  >ut  ofl 
weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  light," 
[Heb.  11 :84]  and  when  heart  and  flesh  railed, entered  Into 
their  closets  and  prayed  to  their  Father  in  Heaven  who 
seeth  in  secret ;  ami  has  in-  not  rewarded  openly?  [Matt. 

Have  we  nut    a    part    of    tin-  answer  in   this   Woman9! 

Union,  with  its  elected  officers,  and  its  organised  efficient 
work, reaching ont  not  only  after  Wisconsin-  sons  ami 
daughters,  but  to  the  Freedmen,  Chinese,  Indians,  ami  I 
trust,  to  strangers  of  all  lands  who  come  under  oar 
for  protection,  ami  who  find  in  your  outreaching,  <  Ihrlst- 
lan  love  that  "one  half  was  not  told  them"  [II  Chron. 
!>:<;]  of  what  God  is  doing  through  the  Christian  women 
of  this  -rami  State?  Those  earnest  prayers  in  humble 
homes  ami  srcn-t  plates  in  the  early  history  of  your  81 
<  ven  while  a  Territory,  may  have  prevailed   with   Him 

who  hears  the  cry  of  the  needy,  ami   who  has  brought 
I  men  ami  women  from  various  portions  of  our  own 

ami  other  lands  to  unite  their  efforts  t<>  lay  foundations 

for    flourishing    towns,    churches,    schools    ami    coll.  | 
Does   not    this  all   testify   that    He   who   has    promised    is 

faithful?  Prom  your  your  own  State  and  such  Christian 
homes  have  gone  forth  sons  ami  daughters  who  stand 
to-day  to  give  an  open  Bible  to  Mexico ;  or  tolling  night 
and  day  for  the  Freedmen  in  our  Southern  land,  or  among 
the  mountains,  or  on  the  plains  of  the  bur  West,  "Count 
it  all  joy  to  endure  baronet  ood  soldiers  ol  ■' 

Christ"  [II  Tim.  2:8].    They  ha  -  d  the  great  ocean 

ami  in  distant  China  and  of  other  far  ..if  lands,   tl 
born  and  bred  in  this  new  state  are  proclaiming  the  love 
of  God  and  "that  the  Son  of  Mao  hath  power  on  earth 
to  forgive  sins"  [Matt.  9:6]  and  "save  to  the  otters 


350  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

all  who  believe  in  him."     [Heb.  7:25]. 

The  widowed  mother's  son!  the  widow's  daughter! 
precious  gifts!  God  accepts  the  free-will  offering,  whether 
it  be  the  first-born  or  the  widow's  two  mites. 

As  we  thus  glance  at  the  past  and  feel  the  pressure  of 
the  present,  let  us  thank  God  and  courageously  "devise 
liberal  things,"  [Isa.  31:3]  believing  that  "he  that  sow- 
eth  bountifully  shall  reap  also  bountifully."  [II  Cor.  9:6]. 

And  God,  even  your  God  shall  do  far  more  abundantly 
than  you  can  even  ask  or  think. 

Surely  these  promises  are  enough.      Let  us  take  hold 

upon  them  and  do  with  our  might  what  our  hands  find 

to  do,  [Eccl.  9:10]  for  "Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh" 

[Luke  25:6]. 

Yours  in  loving  sympathy, 

E.  C.  P. 


RELATION    TO    WOMEN  S  BOARD  OF   MISSIONS    OF    THE 
INTERIOR 

"It  seems  fitting  that  in  a  memoir  of  Mrs.  Porter, 
grateful  mention  be  made  of  her  love  and  service  for  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior  b}T  one  who 
long  knew  her  in  the  relations  to  that  Board. 

"Her  unaffected  devotion  to  Christ's  service,  early  con- 
secration to  Missionary  Work  among  the  Indians  and 
the  gift  of  an  only  daughter  to  the  work  in  China,  pre- 
pared her,  as  at  that  time  perhaps  no  other  woman  was 
prepared,  to  apprehend  the  need  and  wisdom  of  woman's 
organized  work  in  giving  the  Gospel  to  the  dark  places 
of  the  earth. 

"With  quick  discernment  she  saw  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  in  the  Genesis  of  the  Board  of  the  Interior  and  hast- 
ened to  give  to  it  a  service  full  of  earnest  conviction,  love 
and  sacrifice. 


APPi  NDiJt 

"Never  obtrusive  In  her  efforts,  she  was  yet  Instant  In 
season  and  out  of  season,  \i  b  time  when  others 
doubting:,  questioning,  and  some  criticising,  she  was 
serving  and  winning  others  to  the  same  confidence  and 
loyalty.  Thus  she  ua\<-  t«»  the  early  work  ol  the  Board 
an  Impulse  to  success,  which  probably  she  herself  never 
realised. 

••  While  she  never  held  an  official  position,  her  Influence 
upon  the  Board  and  for  the  Board,  was  a  felt  and  rai- 
ned force.  Her  Intellectual  grasp  of  the  truth  was  strong 
and  certain.  This,  together  with  her  winsome  Christian 
life,  wons  reverent  confidence  in  her  judgment  and  made 
her  an  unconscious  leader.  Her 'assurance  of  faith1  was 
magnetic,  and  created  an  atmosphere  of  courageous  en- 
deavor. 

"On  one  occasion  she  was  present  In  a  missionary 
meeting,  where  tin-  ladies  were  oppressed  with  doubt  In 
regard  to  their  pledges  for  I  he  year.  Mrs.  Porter  listened 
In  silence  for  a  time,  then  slowly  rising  said:  'Pray,  pray 
for  that  money.'  Then  planting  her  foot  firmly,  as  if  to 
Illustrate  the  word  substance,  she  continued,  for  faith  is 
the  substance  of  things  hoped  lor.'  a  tin-ill  of  courage 
i-an  through  the  room.  Every  heart  united  in  the  prayer 
she  offered.  When  a  few  weeks  later  more  than  the 
pledge  was  reported  in  the  treasury,  the  ladies  said: 
'Dear  Mrs.  Porter's  faith  moved  us  to  effort.' 

"Her  wide  and  Intense  spiritual  vision  founded  on  th 
promises  and  prophecies  ol  I  be  coming  of  Christ's  King- 
dom in  all  the  earth,  gave  her  at  times  almost  the  p<>  rer 
of  a  prophetess,  and  moved  others  to  cheerful  work  and 
essentia]  factors  in  the  final  victory.  Her 
true  catholicity  of  spirit  ami  large-hearted  acceptance  of 
the  atonement  of  Jesus  Christ,  could  i»<-  (imitated  by 
nothing  less  than  t  he  whole  earth. 

"  Her  helpfulness  had  in  it  so  much  of  her  own  unlojue 
Individuality,  it  Is  difficult  to  express  it.    But  It  Is  safe  to 


352  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER. 

Bay,  that  among  all  the  loyal,  loving  supporters  of  the 
Woman's  Board  of  the  Interior.  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter 
was  pre-eminent.  Her  memory  abides  in  our  hearts  a 
grateful  legacy. 

Mks.  Moses  Smith." 
Glencoe,  Ills.,  November,  1892. 


The  following  extract  from  the  "Advance"  account  of 
some  meeting  of  W.  B.  M.  I.  suggests  the  kind  of  inspira- 
tion which  Mrs.  Porter  gave  to  that  work  : 

"75  Madison  Street. 

"Sept.  5. — If  any  sought  the  Upper  Room  this  morning 
fearing  or  burdened,  they  must  have  come  away  reas- 
sured and  nerved  for  action.  Far  more  potent  than  the 
presence  of  Sheridan  at  Fredericksburg,  is  the  standard 
lifted  up  before  our  eyes  to-day.  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter, 
mother  of  missionaries,  the  wife  of  the  first  preacher  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  frontier  outpost  which  is  now  in  Chica- 
go, led  the  meeting.  After  a  long  career  of  faith  and  of 
unbounded  courage  and  success  in  Christian  work,  she 
lives  to  pray  for  and  inspire  others.  But  it  was  not  her 
own  example  that  she  held  up  for  our  encouragement.  It 
was  the  'Ensign  which  is  the  Root  of  Jesse'  (see  Isaiah 
xi:  10),  'And  in  that  day  there  shall  be  a  Root  of  Jesse 
which  shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  people ;  to  it  shall 
the  Gentiles  seek:  and  his  rest  shall  be  glorious.'  'In 
what  day?'  asked  Mrs.  Porter,  and  referred  us  to  Luke 
It,  'And  when  He  had  opened  the  book  *  *  He  began 
to  Bar  unto  them,  This  day  is  this  Scripture  fulfilled  in 
Toureare.'  "That  day  of  Christ's  incarnation :  this  day 
of  your  privilege,  beloved  sisters,  is  the  day  referred  to. 
My  heart  is  filled  with  delight  as  I  think  of  that  grand 
Old  prophet  looking  down  through  the  gates  to  his  very 
room  and  crying  out,  'O  daughter  of  Zion,  in  that  day 


APPENDIX  M8 

there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse  that  shall  stand  for  an  en- 
sign to  the  people.'  And  this  ensign  Is  our  leader;  we 
are  only  followers.  The  work  la  Bis— to  na  It  should  be 
rest— glorious  rest.  No  matter  what  obstacles  or  priva- 
tions we  may  encounter,  we  may  rest  in  Hini  ami  in  His 

promise,  'And  His  rest  is  glorious.'    Let  ns  encourage 

ourselves  tli at  He  stands  as  our  Ensign  forever  let  ns 
stand  under  BUS  shadow;  nay,  rather,  let    ns    run    with 

patience  the  race  that  is  eel  before  us.' 

"Everything  seemed  possible  aswe  listened  to  Mrs. 
Porter's  glowing  words.  And  more  especially,  after  the 
meeting,  did  every  burden  seem  to  fall  off  when  she  said, 
'You  need  not  fed  burdened,  dear;  you  who  are  working 
here  are  only  as  little  children  putting  the  pennies  that 
mamma  gives  them  into  the  box." 


One  year  when  funds  were  especially  slow  in  coming  in, 
Mrs  Porter  secured  alist  of  the  Congregational  Churches 
In  the  Interior  which  made  no  contribution  to  Woman's 
Work  abroad  and  sent  the  following  appeal  to  each  one: 

AN  APPEAL  TO  PASTORS,   SUPERINTENDENTS  AND 
SUNDAY   SCHOOL   TEACHERS. 


"Will  you  not,  dear  friends,  as  pastors  and  leaden  of 

'God'a  host/  call  earnestly  apon  the  women  and  children 

of  your  churches  ami  schools,  to  come  up  ;|t  oncetothe 

Help  of  the  Lord  in  heathen  homes? 

"Surely  every  woman  that  has  a  name  a  mong  t  he  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  must  desire  to  obey  his  commandments : 
'Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 

creature.' 


354  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

"  How  can  she  do  this? 

'"By  giving  liberally  and  praying,  earnestly  working 
together  with  Christ.' 

"  Beloved  sisters,  heathen  women  ask  our  missionaries, 
Why  have  you  waited  so  long?  Why  have  you  not  told 
us  of  this  Jesus  and  his  love  long  ago  ?  A  ad  does  not 
our  Saviour  ask  us  why  ?  'Why  call  ye  me  Master  and 
Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  command  you?' 

"  Will  you  not,  beloved,  organize  at  once  for  this  work? 
And  write  to  the  Woman's  Board  of  the  Interior,  at  75 
Madison  street,  Chicago,  and  assure  them  that  they  may 
depend  upon  you  for  at  least  two  cents  a  week  for  sup- 
port of  a  missionary. 

"Do  you  say  you  are  poor  and  scattered,  and  there 
may  be  obstacles? 

"Let  us  think  of  our  dear  Lord's  sacrifices  for  us. 
What  have  we  done  for  Him? 

"Think,  too,  of  His  precious  promises  to  us  and  ours, 
'If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat  the  good  of  the 
land.' 

"We  must  have  His  blessing  in  our  hearts  and  homes. 

" '  Give  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you.  Good  measure, 
pressed  down,  running  over.' — Luke  vi:  38.  Let  us  take 
in  the  full  meaning  of  the  promise  and  act  upon  it. 

"  '  Prove  me  now  and  see  if  I  will  not  pour  out  a  bless- 
ing that  there  shall  not  be  room  to  receive.' 

"Who  makes  this  promise  to  fill  our  basket  and  our 
store  house  full  to  overflowing?  Let  us  launch  out  upon 
it,  and  not  be  afraid.    Go  forward  in  this  work. 

"Organize  an  Auxiliary,  if  you  have  none.  Organize 
your  children,  and  teach  them  by  your  own  zeal  and  love 
for  the  cause,  the  blessedness  of  mission  bands,  and  ear- 
nest, organized  work  for  the  Master. 

"'Behold  the  bridegroom  cometh:  Are  your  lamps 
trimmed  and  burning?'  Or  have  they  gone  out?  Let  us 
hasten  to  our  coming  Lord  with  the  inquiry :  What  wilt 


APPENDIX  3.3.0 

Thou  have  me  to  do? 

"  What  have  you  in  your  home?    Have  you  a  Samuel 
there?    Give  and  it  shall  be  given  you. 

Yours  for  heathen  women, 

E.  C.  P." 


Part  of  the  talk  given  the  ladies  at  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago: 

"Let  me  urge  you,  beloved  mothers  and  daughters,  in 
your  beautiful  hoines,  to  listen  to  the  words  of  loving 
counsel  which  God  gave  His  own  people  whin  Be  led 
them  out  of  the  wilderness  into  a  iand  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey.'  'Beware  that  ye  forget  not  the  Lord 
your  God  in  departing  from  His  commandments  and  His 
statutes  and  His  judgments  which  I  command  this  day, 
lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  and  hast  built 
goodly  houses  and  dwelt  in  them,  thine  heart  be  lifted  up 
and  thou  forget  the  Lord  thy  God.  For  it  is  He  that  giv- 
eth  tine  power  and  wealth.'  Let  me  urge  you,  beloved. 
as  you  dwell  in  your  charming,  luxurious  homes,  that 
you  forget  not  the  new  responsibilities  which  come  to 
those  who  follow  after  and  inherit  the  blessings  which 
have  come  to  them  through  the  labors  of  the  toiling  pio- 
neers.  Remember  that  the  hands  of  women  in  every 
land  are  outstretched  toward  you.  asking  you  for  the 
bread  of  life.  And  God  asks  you  for  that  which  yonr 
gold  can  not  buy,  even  your  sons  and  daughters.     And 

Christian  women  who  owe  all  domestic  love  and  refine- 
ment, all  which  makes  you  differ  from  African  and  Chi- 
nese mothers,  to  tie-  love  of  Him  who  came  as  the  prom- 
ised Seed  ol  the  woman  to  lift  hernptoher  rightful  plane, 

Jesus  calls  upon  you  to  give  your  degraded  sex  in  other 
lands  the  knowledge  of  such  a  Saviour.    The  Prince  of 

Life,  of  Love,  and  Peace  permits  us  the  honor  of  being 


356  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

co-workers  with  Him  in  this  work. 

11  If  we  fail  to  come  up  to  this  work  He  will  raise  up 
helpers  from  some  other  quarter,  but  we  and  our  children 
shall  and  must  lose  the  blessings  promised  to  those  who 
are  co-workers  with  Christ,  who  'save  souls  from  death 
and  hide  a  multitude  of  sins.' " 


The  following  from  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  came  too  late  for 
insertion  in  the  account  of  Mrs.  Porter's  army  life  and 
was  accompanied  by  a  statement  from  one,  a  wagon- 
master,  which  is  also  given. 

Russet,  Kansas,   Sep.   i6,  i8g2. 
Sketch  of  Mrs.  Jeremiah  Porter's  Army  Service. 

I  first  met  Mrs  Jeremiah  Porter  at  Cairo,  Brigade  Hos- 
pital, after  the  battle  of  Belmont.  I  never  needed  a  friend 
so  bad  as  when  Mrs.  Porter  walked  in.  I  needed  her  lov- 
ing sympathy,  which  came  as  a  balm. 

For  four  years  we  walked  side  by  side,  I  had  her  loving 
kindness  and  sympathy.  She  was  fearless  in  her  work, 
she  feared  nothing.  She  would  cheerfully  go  to  the  bed- 
side of  a  severe  case  of  small-pox,  erysipelas,  or  gangrene 
as  she  would  to  a  wounded  man,  and  stay  with  them 
until  they  would  take  that  journey  from  whence  no  trav- 
eler ever  returns.  She  would  accompany  me  regularly 
every  morning  to  the  dead  house,  seeing  that  the  dead 
were  properly  cleaned  and  clothed  for  burial,  their  names 
recorded,  their  friends  notified,  and  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission notified  at  Chicago.  This  sad  and  painful  task 
took  an  hour  or  two  from  our  morning  work.  After  a 
battle,  when  our  wounded  were  brought  in,  the  mortally 
wounded  were  laid  aside  from  the  rest.  It  was  a  place 
that  would  appall  the  strongest  hearts  and  yet,  Mrs. 
Porter  would  cheerfully  go  with  me  and  help  to  move 


APPENDIX  169 

their  mangled  forms,  and  see  who  could  be  saved  and 
would  say  to  those  dying,  "Prepare  to  meet  your  God." 

Alter  a    very    hard,    four    days    storm    on    New     Y> AT "> 

morning,  1864,  while  I  was  In  the  kitchen  trying  to  eat 
my  breakfast,  In  came  Mm.  Porter,  which  had  the  effect 
of  the  brightest  sunshine  upon  me,  exhausted  as  I  was. 
soon  the  word  that  Mrs.  Porter  had  come  passed  through 
the  wards  of  the  hospital,  and  every  soldier  knew  sin- 
was  present.  She  went  to  work  in  the  small-pox  and 
erysipelas  wards,  where  she  was  a  great  comfort  to 
the  soldiers.      We    began    in  January  to  prepare  lor  the 

spring  campaign,  the  next  battle  being  Besaca.  she  also 
helped  in  caring  for  the  sick  in  the  Huntsville.  Alabama, 
Prison. 

We  arrived  at  the  battle  of  Resacaat  sunrise,  and  there 
were  already  4<>o  awaiting  medical  treatment.  Mrs.  Por- 
ter not  weighing  over   100  pounds,   seemed   that    she  had 

the  strength  of  a  giant.    Taking  her  handkerchief  from 

her  pocket  and  a  bucket  of  water  in  her  hand,  sin-  began 

washing  the  face  of  a  man  which  was  covered  with  hi 1 

and  who  was  gasping  for  breath.  She  ordered  pillows 
to  be  taken  from  the  sanitary  wagons  and  placed  under 
the  h.ads  of  wounded  soldiers,  or  under  the  stumps  of 
amputated  limbs.  All  day  long  she  went  from  one 
wounded  man  to  another,  in  the  boiling  sun.  and  from 
tent  \>  tent  ami  through  the  woods  where  the  dead  and 
wounded   lay.   nor  did  she  seem  to  weary.      Late  in  the 

afternoon  Gen.  IfcPherson  rode  up  and  said.  "Mrs.  Por- 
ter, my  Orderly   is   mortally   wounded,"   and    with   the 
l  of  lightning   dashed  away,  leaving  his  precious 

charge  to  Mrs.  Porter's  care.    Boon  the  frail  form  of  a 

boy  of  seventeen  summers  was  borne  in  on  a  stretcher,  with 

his  heart's  blood  streaming  on  the  ground,  as  they  bore 

him  by  ami  Mrs.  Porter  beckoned  him  under  the  shade  of 
a  tree.  After  washing  his  face  ami  giving  him  a  drink, 
she  took  him  by  the  hand  and  speaking  in  a  low,  gentle 


358  ELIZA  CHAPPELL  PORTER 

tone,  said,  ''Can  yon  move  your  fingers?"  and  he  moved 
them  :  "Can  yon  move  your  toes?  "  and  he  moved  them. 
Then  she  said.  "There  are  no  bones  broken  and  you  may 
not  be  mortally  wounded  after  all,  the  Lord  has  pre- 
served  you  for  some  good  purpose."  He  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  be  sent  home  to  his  parents.  During  that  en- 
tire day,  a  son  of  Mrs.  Porter  was  engaged  actively  on 
his  battery,  his  mother  not  knowing  whether  he  was 
dead  or  alive.  He  came  to  her  at  sunset  and  said  very 
cheerfully,  "How  do  you  do,  mother?  "  He  stayed  about 
five  minutes  engaged  in  close  conversation  when  he  dis- 
appeared through  the  dense  smoke  and  returned  to  his 
battery.  The  musketry  ceased,  but  the  artillery  roared 
all  night.  Early  in  the  morning  the  action  was  renewed 
with  vigor.  During  the  course  of  the  day  Johnson 
crossed  the  river  and  burned  the  bridge  after  him,  and 
every  one  that  could  carry  a  musket  was  in  hot  pur- 
suit, leaving  the  dead  and  wounded  lying  on  the  field. 
Across  this  field  of  carnage,  we  moved  our  wounded  to 
the  railroad,  a  distance  of  about  three  miles.  All  that 
could  be  were  sent  to  Chattanooga;  but  it  left  fifteen  hun- 
dred in  the  hospital.  The  second  and  third  days  the 
wounded  came  in  from  the  undergrowth  of  pines  where 
they  had  been  hiding.  Late  on  the  third  day,  300  of  the 
20th  corps  came  in  completely  starved  out,  and  our  sup- 
plies were  exhausted.  We  had  five  barrels  of  corn  meal, 
and  two  barrels  of  potato  pickles,  and  for  once  they 
were  a  luxury.  Mush  was  made  of  the  corn  meal,  and  as 
strange  as  it  may  seem  the  entire  five  barrels  of  meal 
were  well-cooked  and  fed  to  the  hungry  soldiers,  but  in 
the  meantime,  Mrs.  Porter  had  handed  out  every  one  of 
the  two  barrels  of  pickles.  That  was  the  last  morsel  of 
food  that  we  had  that  night,  and  the  soldiers  were  satis- 
lied  and  slept  well.  Early  the  next  morning  came  thir- 
teen car  loads  of  provisions,  and  two  car  loads  of  ice, 
from  Mr.  Yeaton,  President   of  the  St.    Louis  Sanitary 


APPENDIX  359 

Commission.  After  getting  the  men  comfortable,  we  re- 
ceived ordera  to  report  Immediately  at  Kingston,  I  ieorgia, 
which  we  did,  making  the  journey  In  b  car  loaded  with 
shelled  corn.  We  arrived  there  just  a1  sunrise,  and  Mrs. 
Porter  took  an  active  part  In  distributing  75  tons  of  pro- 
visions, fitting  up  the  Kingston  Hospital,  where  we 
were  about  two  weeks,  and  then  we  were  ordered  In 
great  haste,  to  Altoona.  We  found  a  hospital  of  about 
3,000  patients,  and  still  coming  In,  among  them  ;i  greal 
many  Mends  and  acquaintances.  Mrs.  Portertook  charge 
of  the  linen  room.  We  were  there  about  a  month,  when 
we  were  ordered  to  Marietta  Hospital.  We  were  there 
about  four  months,  during  the  time  there  were  five  hard 
fought  battles,  and  finally  the  fall  of  Atlanta;  the 
wounded  from  which,  numbering  about  18,000  panned 
through  that  hospital.  Here  It  was  that  Mrs.  Porter  re- 
turned to  Chicago. 


I  was  a  civilian  wagonmaster,  15  Army  Corps,  1st.  Di- 
vision, under  Gen.  Smith,  Quartermaster  at    Ringgold, 

Georgia,  when  the  army  was  moving  up  Snake  Creek 
Gap.  Forty  wagons  were  loaded  with  sanitary  supplies 
and  an  ambulance  stood  waiting  for  Mrs.  Bickerdyke 
when  she  received  orders  to  move.  "1  am  not  ready  to 
move.'*  "Why  are  you  not  ready  to  move?"  "1  am 
waiting  for  Mrs.  Porter,  sheis  coming  in  on  the  train." 
"There  will  be  no  train  until  after  dark."    "Then  I  will 

wait  until  after  dark."      In  less  than    twenty  minutes  the 

train  did  come  in.  A  little,  frail  woman,  dressed  In  brown 
stepped  from  the  train  and  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  moved  for- 
ward to  meet  \irv.  i  asked  Mr.  Reno,  the  Sanitary  Agent, 
if  that  was  all  Mrs.  Bickerdyke  was  waiting  for.  lie  re- 
plied:   "Them  women  is  a  host.  I  am  glad  shehascome." 

We    wen- soon    in    our  place  marching    up    Snake   (reek. 


360  ELIZA  CHAP  FELL  PORTER 

with  the  equipments  of  quartermaster,  commissary,  and 
sanitary  commission  for  50,000  men.  It  was  a  grand 
sight,  and  only  two  women  in  it. 

Before  the  sun  was  an  hour  high  the  next  morning,  I 
learned  what  that  little  woman  was.  She  moved  around 
among  the  wounded  and  dying  as  if  she  were  something 
superhuman,  washing  and  bathing  the  wounded  and  her 
own  hands  stained  with  blood,  the  sight  being  such  that 
it  turned  me  deathly  sick,  being  the  first  battle  I  ever  saw. 
I  was  glad  when  I  was  ordered  back  with  my  train.  I 
frequently  saw  Mrs.  Porter  afterwards  following  her 
mission  of  mercy,  and  saw  her  come  into  the  Marietta 
Hospital,  and  deliberately  clean  the  officers'  table  saying 
— "These  things  were  sent  here  for  the  sick  soldiers,  I  have 
just  passed  through  the  wards  and  the  men  have  noth- 
ing to  eat  but  hardtack  and  black  coffee  without  sugar." 
Speaking  in  a  low  tone,  "  I  don't  know  how  you  can  do 
so."  At  five  o'clock  that  evening,  I  never  saw  a  better 
snpper  served  up  than  was  served  there,  to  about  1,500 
men,  and  the  officers  mess  had  good  bread,  and  butter, 
fried  meat,  potatoes,  and  coffee,  without  any  delica- 
cies. I  lastly  saw  her  at  Beaufort,  N.  C,  at  the  large 
hospital,  seeming  to  have  the  same  vitality  and  interest 
in  justice  and  right  as  when  I  first  saw  her. 


(From  "The  Advance,  "  of  Chicago,  June  18,  1891.). 

A  REMARKABLE  LIFE. 

There  appered  in  the  Advance,  of  April  8,  a  brief  obitu- 
ary,  which  probably  attracted  the  attention  of  but  few 
readers,  and  from  most  of  those  who  noticed  it  only  a 
passing  thought,  for  the  name  was  unfamiliar.  It  is  fit- 
ting that  now  that  name  become  better  known  among 


APPENDIX  3C1 

us. .- 1 1 1 < l  that  some  record  be  mafic  of  the  life  of  tetf-denla] 
mikI  beneficence  which  was  00  hidden  while  this  woman  of 
remarkable  history,  as  well  as  character,  was  In  our 

miilM 

UlS.  C.  L.  A.  Tank  was  born  in  Holland,  in   1808,  ami 

panned  from  the  school  of  earthly  disipline  to  the  larger 
life  April  l.  1891,  at  Port  Howard,  wis.,  which  had  been 
her  home  for  forty  yean.    She  was  the  daughter  of  Rev. 

K.  .1.  Van  dtp  Mcuit'ii.  of  Amsterdam,  and  was  descended 
on  her  mother's  side  from  a  distinguished  general  in  the 
Mil  vice  of  the  crown,  through  whom  a  large  fortune  came 

to  the  family.  No  one  who  had  heard  them  from  her 
own  lips,  in  the  expressive  and  forcible   English,  quaint 

and  original  as  herself  in  its  idioms,  will  ever  forget  the 

stories  c»f  her  youth,   with  its  careful  training  under  the 

scholarly  father  ami  gentle  mother,  ami  the  companion- 

Ship  of  a  sister  with  musical  and  artistic  tastes  like  her 
own. 

After  the  death  of  her  mother  she  had  charge  of  the 
establishment,  and  remained  in  the  stately    home   until 

she  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  otto  Tank,  a  Norwegian 

gentleman  and  Moravian  .Missionary. 

There  looks  down  upon  me  as  I  write  a  portrait  of 
Mr.  Tank,  a  copy  of  one  painted  in  Dresden,  in  1820,  when 
he  was  a  young  and  gay  court   fa  v<  .rite.     It    is  a   DOble 

fact-,  of  unusual  beauty  of  feature,  and  with  theforshad- 

OWlng  of  that  loftier  beauty  which  distinguished  his  later 

years,  tin-  benevolence  ami  gentleness  of  its  expression, 

the  OUtlOOklng  of  the  "inward  light.*1  Mr.  Tank  was  .in 
ardent  student,  a  One  Classical  scholar,  and  an  enthusi- 
ast in  natural  science,  lb-  spoke  fluently  six  or  seven  of 
the  lan^ua^es  of  modern  Europe,  and  read  as  many  more, 
Hi-  rather,  a  Norwegian  nobleman,  had  most  ambitious 
plans  for  his  attractive  and  gifted  son,  ami  was  bitterly 
disappointed  when  he  silled  himself  with  the  despised 
sirt  of  Moravians.     Every  effort   was  made  to  win  him 


362  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

back  to  the  State  church  and  a  more  formal  Christianity, 
but  he  was  firm  in  his  resolve  to  consecrate  his  life  to 
lowly  service  for  others  instead  of  self-seeking,  and  in 
consequence  was  disinherited  by  his  father.  He  was  em- 
ployed as  a  teacher,  then  as  commercial  agent,  by  the 
Moravian  brotherhood,  and  later  as  a  missionary  to  the 
slaves  in  Dutch  Guiana,  There  his  first  wife  died,  and 
he  returned  to  Europe  with  a  motherless  daughter,  eight- 
teen  months  old.  Miss  Van  der  Meulen  had  been  an  in- 
timate friend  of  the  mother  of  the  little  girl,  and  in  1849 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Tank.  After  their  marriage  they 
came  to  the  United  States.  After  making  arrangements 
for  a  home  in  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  they  were  sent  in  charge 
of  a  colony  of  Norwegian  emigrants  to  Northern  Wis- 
consin. 

The  years  that  followed  were  full  of  trial  and  disap- 
pointment. Plans  for  the  welfare  of  the  colony  were 
thwarted  quite  as  much  by  the  dissatisfaction  of  its 
members  as  by  untoward  circumstances.  A  Moravian 
community,  modeled  after  those  of  the  Old  World,  was 
not  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  the  free  and  rapids-grow- 
ing Northwest,  and  the  company  of  colonists  was  soon 
scattered.  It  became  known  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tank 
had  large  means,  and  they  were  drawn  into  various  fi- 
nancial schemes  which  brought  only  regret  and  loss. 

"So  the  years  went  on  until  1864,  the  return  to  Bethle- 
hem again  and  again  postponed,  when  Mr.  Tank  was 
suddenly  stricken  down  by  disease  and  death,  and  his 
wife  and  daughter  were  left  to  disentangle  the  complica- 
ted business,  and  carry  out,  so  far  as  might  be,  the  benev- 
olent designs  in  which  they  had  been  sharers.  During 
these  years  Mrs.  Tank  had  devoted  herself  most  assidu- 
ously to  the  instruction  and  training  of  the  daughter, 
and  one  or  two  trips  had  been  made  to  Europe,  that  she 
might  enjoy  a  year  of  study  in  England,  courses  of  lec- 
tures in  Paris,  and  the  best  of  musical  advantages  abroad. 


APPENDIX  B09 

The  daughter  had  been  prepared,  it  seemed,  For  anything 
rather  than  business ;  bnl  it  was  not  long  before  she  won 
the  admiration  of  able  financiers  by  her  skill  and  capac- 
ity in  this  direction,  and  her  mother  leaned  upon  her  In 
glad  confidence,  in  1872  she  too  wbm  called  away,  and 
.Mrs.  Tank  left  singularly  alone. 

She  was  deeply  attached  to  America,  pathetically  bo 
to  the  cottage  home  on  the  banks  of  the  Fox,  to  her  gar- 
den and  to  her  pets,  but   she  always  felt    herself  an  alien 

among  its  people,  and  lived  a  life  apart.  Ber  friends  re- 
member well  the  charm  of  visits  to  that  quaint  home,  its 
hospitality  so  unlike  any  other,  yet  bo  large-hearted  and 
genuine,— the  bustling  Dutch  housewife  presiding  at  her 

table  pressing  tea  or  fruit  cordials,  of  her  own  prepara- 
tion, upon  her  guests  as  they  sat  on  the  vine-hung  ve- 
randa overlooking  the  beautiful  river  which  ran  just  be- 
fore the  door.  There  were  rare  hours  when  the  key  of 
the  attic  store-room  was  entrusted  to  the  daughter  of 
the  house,  and  she  drew  from  great  chests  the  treasures 
from  the  elegant  Holland  home,  and  displayed  them  to 
the  wondering,  awe-struck  children  who  were  her  com- 
panions. To  little  eyes  unused  to  the  Bight  of  jewels  and 
rich  silks,  this  attic  seemed  a  very  fairy  land  of  delight. 
Collectors  who  understand  the  value  of  such  things,  as- 
BUre  me  now  that  we  under-estimated  rather  than  over- 
estimated   their    value,  and    that    the    little   old    COttage 

really  contained  rare  treasures  in  pictures,  china  ami 

bric-a-brac.      The  family   had  looked  forward    to  a  time 

when  these  should  adorn  the  home  <>f  the  daughter.  Now 
only  the  mother  was  left,  a  stranger  >tiii  in  tin.-  strange 
land,    she  could  not  easily  place  herself  in  sympathetic 

relations  with  the  community  about  her.     A  small  circle 

of  Mends  she  loved  and  trusted,  ami  her  tender  Interest 
in  every  one  In  need  was  abundantly  proved  by  most 
thoughtful  gifts.    The  beloved  pastor  of  the  littlechurch, 

Of  which  she  was  the  main  support.  Rev.  Mr    »  art  is,  was 


364  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

her  counsellor  and  tried  friend.  When  in  her  loneliness 
she  seemed  to  need  his  aid  and  the  friendship  of  his  house- 
hold, he  too  was  taken  away.  A  widowed  friend  from 
Green  Bay  came  to  live  near  her,  and  with  daughterly 
kindness  ministered  to  her  declining  years.  Mrs.  Tank  was 
still  harassed  by  business  complications,  and  had  grown 
distrustful  of  those  who  approached  her  for  aid.  Almost 
twenty  years  she  lived  alone  in  the  little  cottage,  even 
the  woman  who  served  her  being  often  not  under  her 
roof,  but  in  an  adjacent  building.  This  lonely  life  was, 
however,  by  no  means  an  aimless  one.  There  lies  before 
me  now  the  record  of  gifts  to  benevolent  objects  which 
passed  through  the  hands  of  one  trusted  adviser  during 
these  years.  He  says  of  her:  'All  the  Dutch  frugality 
which  she  inherited  with  her  father's  fortune  was  devoted 
to  the  causes  of  benevolence  and  Christianity.  She  was 
constantly  giving,  thoughtfully,  methodically,  and  se- 
cretly.' The  aggregate  of  sums  disbursed  through  this 
single  channel  amounts  to  more  than  $12,000.  And,  cer- 
tainly, until  later  years,  this  was  but  one  of  the  agencies 
through  which  she  touched  the  needs  of  the  world. 

Such  Christian  stewardship  brought  its  immediate  re- 
ward. What  seemed  to  mere  onlookers  the  somber  mon- 
otone of  her  life,  was  to  her  full  of  richness  and  color. 
Her  heart  reached  out  after  the  suffering  and  needy  in 
many  lands.  She  read  widely  and  carefully,  and  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  various  forms  of  benevolent  activity. 
The  traditions  of  her  Dutch  ancestry  were  potent  in  her 
thought;  and  she  watched  the  growth  of  papal  influence 
in  this  country  with  a  jealous  dread,  such  as  only  one  so 
trained  could  understand.  Each  country,  heathen  or 
papal,  opened  to  the  entrance  of  the  pure  gospel,  was  to 
her  a  personal  joy,  and  her  gift  was  generally  among  the 
earliest  to  greet  such  new  ventures  of  the  Church  of  Christ 
in  its  forward  movement.  Careless,  too  careless,  some- 
times, of  her  own  comfort,  even  her  own  needs,  she  saved 


APPENDIX  365 

only  that  she  might  give.  QOl  that  she  might  hold.  This 
frugal  spirit  was  no  aarrow  one.  Imposing  its  own  re- 
strictions upon  others.     Many  a  ^'iicniiis  gift  t<»  procure 

Bomething  which  she  would  have  denied  herself,  has  gone 
to  the  missionary  on  our  frontier  or  to  foreign  lands. 

Years  ago  miiHi  of  her  beaut  iful  plate  Was  sent  to  the 

mint  in  Philadelphia,  melted  into  bullion,  and  Its  pro- 
ceeds given  to  Christian  work.    The  quaint  Dutch  silver 

would  have  brought  a  great  sum  U  sold  in  Its  original 
form,  but  this  her  family  pride  could  not  permit.  She  re- 
joiced  to  give  it.  but  alien  hands  must  not  touch  it  with 
the  Van  der  Meulen  mark  upon  it  as  it  stood  in  her  fath- 
er's house. 

Now  the  remaining  treasures  are  to  be  scattered.  The 
father's  library  with  the  collection  of  paintings  goes  to 
the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 

All  the  rest,  the  stores  of  that  attic  chamberfairyland 
of  my  girlhood,  are  to  be  sold  for  the  work  she  loved. 
Her  last  large  gift,  personally  bestowed,  was  $1,000  for 
the  Oberlin  Home  for  the  children  of  missionaries.  The 
case  was  presented  with  some  hesitation  :  it  was  known 
that  she  gave  rarely  in  these  later  years,  and  that  new 
objects  did  uot  appeal  to  her  like  the  old  familiar  ones. 
She  listened  thoughtfully  while  tin-  plan  was  laid  before 
her,  and  she  was  asked  to  pledge  $1,000.  The  bright, 
kind  eyes  filled  with  tears  as,  without  a  moment's  hesi- 
tation, she  said  eagerly,  with  a  little  break  in  her  voice, 
'That  is  good.  That  I  will  do;  that  will  lie  for  my 
Mary.' 

The  first  Christian  chapel  built  in  Peking,  China,  was 
a  memorial  for  this  daughter  ."it  the  time  of  her  death. 
Now  that  their  reunion  was  so  Dear,  the  mother  niuein- 
bered  tenderly  tic  child  who  came  from  South  America 
so  many  years  ago,  and  entered  gladly  into  the  thought 

of  this  need  of  other  missionary  children. 

The  stewardship  of  these  earthly  things  over,  surely 


3G0  ELIZA  CHAP  PELL  PORTER 

she  has  heard  the  glad  word  of  approval  from  Him  whom 
here  she  loved  to  call  'The  dear  Lord,'  'Thou  hast  been 
faithful  over  a  few  things;  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over 
many  things." 


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AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  JOHN  G.  PATON.  Missionary  to  the 
New  Hebrides.  Introductory  note  by  Arthur  T.  PiersoD,  D.D. 
2  vols.,  12mo.,  portrait  and  map,  in  neat  box,  $3.00. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  biographies  of  modern  times. 

"  I  have  just  laid  down  the  most  robust  and  the  most  fascinating  piece  of  auto- 
biography that  I   have  met  with  in  many   a  day It  is  the  story  of  the 

wonderfa]  work  wrought  by  John  G.  Paton,  the  famous  missionary  to  the  New 
Hebrides;  he  was  made  of  the  same  stuff  with  Livingstone."— T.  L.  Cutler. 

"It  stands  with  Buch  books  as  those  Dr.  Livingstone  gave  the  world,  and 
shows  to  men  that  the  heroes  of  the  cross  are  not  merely  to  be  sought  in  past 
ages,"' — Christian  Inttlli<jencer. 

THE  LIFE  OF  JOHN  KENNETH  MACKENZIE.  Medical 
Missionary  to  China  ;  with  the  story  of  the  First  Chinese  Hospital 
by  Mrs.  Bryson,  author  of  "Child  Life  in  Chinese  Homes,"  etc. 
12mo.,  cloth,  400  pages,  price  $1.50  with  portrait  in  photogravure. 

"The  story  of  a  singularly  beautiful  life,  sympathetically  and  ably  written. 
.    .    .    .     A  really  helpful,  elevating  book."—  London  Missionary  Chronicle. 

"The  volume  records  much  that  is  fresh  and  interesting  bearing  on  Chinese 
customs  and  manners  as  seen  and  vividly  described  by  a  missionary  who  had 
ample  opportunities  of  studying  them  under  most  varied  circumstances  and 
conditions."— Scotsman. 

THE  GREATEST    WORK  IN   THE  WORLD.     The  Evangeliza- 
tion of  all   Peoples  in  the   Present    Century.     By  Rev.   Arthur  T. 
Pierson,  D.D.     12mo.,  leatherette,  gilt  top.  35c. 
The  subject  itself  is  an  inspiration,  but  this  latest  production  of  Dr.  Pierson 

thrills  with  the  life  which  the  Master  Himself  has  imparted  to  it.    It  will  be  a 

welcome  addition  to  Missionary  literature. 

THE  CRISIS  OF  MISSIONS.  By  Rev.  Arthur  T.  Pierson,  D.D. 
Cloth,  $1.25  ;  paper,  35c. 

"  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  this  book  is  the  most  purposeful,  earnest  and 
intelligent  review  of  the  mission  work  and  field  which  has  ever  been  given  to  the 
Church."— Christian  Statesman. 

MEDICAL  MISSIONS.  Their  Place  and  Power.  By  John  Lowe, 
F.  R.  C.  S.  E.,  Secretary  of  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Mission  Society. 
12mo.,  308  pages,  cloth,  $1.50. 

"This  book  contains  an  exhaustive  account  of  the  benefits  that  may,  and  in 
point  of  fact  do,  accrue  from  the  use  of  the  medical  art  as  a  Christian  agency.  Mr. 
Lowe  is  eminently  qualified  to  instruct  us  in  this  matter,  having  himself  been  so 
long  engaged  in  the  same  field." — From  Introduction  by  Sir  William  Muir. 

ONCE  HINDU:  NOW  CHRISTIAN.  The  early  life  of  Baba 
Padmanji.  Translated  from  the  Marathi.  Edited  by  J.  Murray  Mit- 
chell, M.  A.,  LLD.  12mo.,  155  pages,  with  appendix.  Cloth,  75c. 
"A  more  instructive  or  more  interesting  narrative  of  a  human  soul,  once  held 

firmly  in  the  grip  of  oriental  superstition,  idolatry  and  caste,  gradually  emerging 

into  the  light,  liberty  and  peace  of  a  regenerate  child  of  God,  does  not  often  colu,6 

to  hand." — Missionary  Herald. 

AN  INTENSE  LIFE.  By  George  F.  Herrick.  A  sketch  of  the  life 
and  work  of  Rev.  Andrew  T  Prattt,  M.D.,  Missionary  of  the  A-  S 
C.  F.  M.,  in  Turkey,  1852-1872.     16mo.,  cloth,  50c. 


rcwTOiK. :  i  Fleming  H.  Repell  Company  ■  i  chjcaso. 


Important  Missionary  Publications 


EVERY-DAY  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  INDIA,  or,  the  Story  ,,i  c„opoo- 
wwwubbj.  An  Autobiography.  With  flue  engravings  bj  L.  Wliynv 
per.     I2HM.,  cloth.  $]  00. 

THE  CHILDREN  OF  INDIA.  Written  for  children  by  one  of 
their  friends.      Illustrations  and  map.      Small  4t0  .  doth,  fl  9ft. 

sregood  books  for  the  Sunday  Bobool  Library,  and  will  bolp  yossuj 
people  in  missionary  societies  irbo  desire  n>  bays  an  Intelligent  idee  <>f  the  | 
in  India  whom  they  are  sending  their  money  and  kbdr  mi— on ■  rice  to  <  obti 

try  lit  raid 

HINDUISM,   PAST  AND   PRESENT.     With  an  account  of  n 

Hindu   reformers,    ami   a    brief  comparison    between    Hinduism   ami 
Christianity.     By   J.    Murray    Mitchell,    M.A.,  LLD.      LJmo.,  cloth, 
$1.60. 
'*  A  praiseworthy  attempt  to  present  a  popular  view  of  a  vast  and  ixnportuni 

ubjeet."— Saturday  Bsi 

GOSPEL   ETHNOLOGY.      With   illustrations.     l'.y    S.    L.    Peterson, 
P.  (i.  S.      1-Jmo.  cloth..  |1.00. 
M  Tbe  flret  attempt  to  treal  thissubjeol  fr.»m  *  thoroughgoing  poi.-i.tirn-  stand* 

point.     A  very   powerful  argument  for  the  truth  of  Christianity   "  —  Knylish  i'hurch- 

mea. 

•'A  l»«.<.k    to   refer  to   f«.r   information   not  easily  to   be  obtained  otherwise.— 
(hunk  Missionary  ZwioBipenoer. 

NATIVE  LIFE  IN  SOUTH  INDIA.     Being  sketches  of  tin 

and  religious  characteristics  of  the  Hindus.  By  the  Lev.  Henry 
Rice.  With  manv  illustrations  from  nati\e  sketches,  l'-'nm.,  cloth 
boards,  £1.00. 

"Those  who  have  heard  Mr.  BJee*S  mUshwiy  addresses  will  be  prepared  lu 
hear  that  this  is  a  fascinating  book."— Lift  ami  Wurk 

CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS  IN  CHINA.  Gleanings  from  the  writ- 
ings and  Bpeaebef  <>r   many  workers.     By  Arnold   Poater,    la.. 

London  Missionary,  Hankow.  With  map  of  China.  12mO»,  cloth, 
$1.00. 

AMONG  THE  MONGOLS.  By  Rev.  James  Gilmour,  M.A..  London 
M.-- ion.   Peking.      Numerous   engravings    from    photographs  and 

native  sketches.      12mo.,  gilt  edges,  cloth,  $1.00. 
"The  newness  and  value  of  the  book  i  ly  In  u-  Defoe  quality,  that 

when   von  bare   read  it  you  know,  and   will  never  forget,  all   Mr.  Uilmour  knows 
and  oils  of  how  Mongols  live."      8jp 

EVERY-DAY  LIFE  IN  CHINA,  or.  Beenoi  along  Liwr  and  Bond 
m  tbeOekatUl  Empire.     By  Edwin  J,  Dnkea     Dlostrationa  from 

the  author's  iketcbea      L-'mo..  with  emhellish.il  00T4 
That  Thin. i  is  a  IMJSlCllloilS  ptobiSM  t"  all  wlu.  int.  la  »U  affair. 

Lb  the  OOly  .i      MM  for  offering  alii.thii    DOOk  «>n  tin-  Mibj.-i  I 


mwTOBx  n   Fleming  H.  Resell  Company  n  cam  too 


Popular  Missionary  Biographies. 

i2mo,  1 60  pages.     Fully  illustrated;  cloth  extra,  75  cents  each 


Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon, 
jrrites: 

"  Crowded  with  facts 
that  both  interest  and  in- 
spire, we  can  conceive  of 
no  better  plan  to  spread 
the  Missionary  spirit  than 
the  multiplying  of  such 
biographies;  and  we 
would  specially  commend 
this  series  to  those  who 
have  the  management  of 
libraries  and  selection  of 
prizes  in  our  Sunday 
Schools." 


From  The  Missionary 
Herald : 

"We  commended  this 
series  in  our  last  issue, 
and  a  further  examina- 
ion  leads  us  to  renew  our 
commendation,  and  to 
urge  the  placing  of  this 
series  of  missionary  books 
in  ail  our  Sabbath-school 
libraries. 

These  books  are  hand- 
somely printed  and  bound 
and  are  beautifully  illus- 
trated, and  we  are  confi- 
dent that  they  will  prove 
attractive  to  all  young 
people." 


SAMUEL  CROWTHER,   the  Slave  Boy  who  became  Bishop  of 

the  Niger.    By  Jesse  Page,  author  of  "  Bishop  Patterson." 
THOMAS  J.  COMBER,  Missionary   Pioneer  to  the  Congo.      By 

Rev.  J.  B.  Myers,  Association  Secretary  Baptist  Missionary  Society, 
BISHOP  PATTESON,  the  Martyr  of  Melanesia.  By  Jesse  Page, 
GRIFFITH    JOHN,    Founder    of   the   Hankow  Mission,  Central 

China.    By  Wit  Robson,  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 
ROBERT   MORRISON,  the   Pioneer  of   Chinese   Missions.      By 

\Ym.  J.  Townsend,  Sec.  Methodist  New  Connexion  Missionary  Soc'y. 
ROBERT  MOFFAT,  the  Missionary  Hero  of  Kuruman.    By  David 

J.  Deane,  author  of  "Martin  Luther,  the  Reformer,"  etc. 
WILLIAM    CAREY,  the   Shoemaker  who  became  a  Missionary. 

By  Rev.  J.  B.  Myers,  Association  Secretary  Baptist  Missionary  Society. 
JAMES    CHALMERS,    Missionary    and    Explorer  of   Rarotonga 

and  New  Guinea.  By  Wm.  Robson,  of  the  London  Missionary  Soc'y. 
MISSIONARY  LADIES  IN  FOREIGN  LANDS.     By  Mrs.  E.  R. 

PlLMAN,  author  of  "  Heroines  of  the  Mission  Fields,"  etc. 

JAMES  CALVERT;  or,  From  Dark  to  Dawn  in  Fiji. 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,  the    Martyr    of    Erromanga.      By  Rev.  James 
J.  Ellis. 

UNIFORM    WITH   THE   ABOVE. 

JOHN  BRIGHT,  the  Man  of  the  People.     By  Jesse  Page,  author  of 

"  Bishop  Patteson,"   "  Samuel  Crowther,"  etc. 
HENRY  M.  STANLEY,  the  African  Explorer.  By  Arthur  Monte. 

fiore,  F.R.G.S.      Brought  down  to  1889. 
DAVID  LIVINGSTON,  his  Labors  and  his  Legacy. 


CHICAGO: 
148-150  Madison  Street 


.  Flemiqg  H.  IJBYell  do. 


NEW  YORK: 
30  Union  Square  East 


fOf{      WOF\K     /[f*Oflq     CqiLDf\E[J. 


Attractive  Truths  in  Lesson  and  Story.    By  Mrs.  A.  II.  Scudder,  *ith 
introduction    by    Rev.  F.   E  Clakkk,  l'rcst.  Y.    P.  5.   G    E.     ia    mc 
cloth.  $i   25. 
A  scries  of  outline  lessons  with  illustrative  stories  for  Junior  Christian  Endeavor 
Socie'ies,  for  Children's  meetings  and  tor  home  teaching. 

Not  only  for  workers  among  children  will  this  work  he  appreciated,  but  mothers 
\  ill  find  it  a  delightful  Sunday  afternoon  volume  for  their  children,  suggesting  an  end- 
.  >v  variety  of  "occupations,     besides  charming  with  its  many  beautiful  s-. 

Children's  Meetings  and  How  to  Conduct  Them.     By  LUCY  J.  Rider. 

and  NELLIE  M.  Carman,  introduction  by  Bishop  J.    11.   Vincent.   2o3 

pp.,  cloth,    illustrated,  $1  00;  paper  covers,  50  cents. 

"Mr.  Kcvell  has  conferred  a  favor  on  tne  Christian  public,  especially  that  large 
part  of  it  interested  in  the  right  training  of  children,  in  publishing  this  most  pracUcal 
work." — The  Advance. 

"Just  such  a  work  as  teachers  have  long  wanted.  It  will  at  once  take  a  place 
among  the  indispensables." — N.  T.   Observer. 

"Among  the  contributois  to  this  volume  are  nearly  all  the  hest  known  Sunday- 
school  writers  of  this  country.  The  book  is  a  cvclopedia  of  helpful  hints  on  the  best 
plans  of  working  among  the  children,  plans  suggested  by  the  actual  experience  of  the 
contributors  " 

Clear  as  Crystal.     By  Rev.  R.  T.  Cross.     Fifty,  five  minute  talks  on  les- 
sons from  Crystals.     206  pp.,  beveled  cloth,  $  I  00. 

"The  Sermons'belong  to  the  five  minute  series,  and  are  models  of  what  can  be 
done  in  so  brief  a   space."  —  The  Independent 

"Most  interesting  in  style,  and  full  of  spirituality.  We  commend  this  volume  es- 
pecially to  teachers  who  understand  the  value  of  fresh  illustrations  from  nature." — 
The  Christian  at  Work. 

Talks  to  Children.     By  Rev.  T  T.  Eaton,   D.   D.,  with  introduction  by 
Rev.  John  A   Broadus,  D.  D  ,  EL.  D.       16  mo.  cloth,  $1  00. 

"Dr.  Eaton's  Talk,  appear  to  us  to  possess  in  an  unusual  degree  the  qualities 
which  interest  and  profit  young  hearers  and  readers.  They  reproduce  Scripture  his- 
tory in  the  terms  of  modern  life  and  give  it  both  a  vivid  setting  before  the  youthful 
imagination,  and  a  firm  grip  on  the  youthful  conscience." — The  Independent. 

"We  have  examined  this  work  with  intense  interest.  We  have  read  many  books 
of  this  kind,  but  we  honestly  believe  that  this  volume  of  Dr.  Eaton's  excels  them  alt."'' — 
Central  Baptist. 

"The  best  book  of  the  kind  we  remember  to  have  seen.  We  commend  it  especially 
to  parents  reading  aloud  to  their  children  Sunday  afternoon." — Examiner. 

Short  Talks  to  Young  Christians,     on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity. 
By  Rev.  C.  O.  Brown.     168  pages,  cloth,  50c.,  paper,  30  cents. 

"Books  that  are  really  useful,  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity,  could  almost  be 
counted  on  one's  fingers.  One  which  has  been  singled  out  from  a  host  of  others  hv  i's 
ulain  straight  forward  sense  is  'Short  Talks  to  Young  Christians  on  the  Evidences', 
by  t  e  Rev.  C.  O.  Brown."— Sunday  School  Times. 

Conversion  of  Children.     By  Rev.  E.  P.  Hammond.     A  practical  volume 
replete  with  incident  and  illustration.   Suggestive,  important  and  timely. 

184  pages,  cloth,  75  cents,  paper  cover,  30  cents. 
Young  People's  Christian  Manual.     By  Rev.  Chas  L  Morgan.    32mc 

booklet,  5  cents;  25  copies,  $  1  00. 

A  Catechetical  Manual  for  the  instruction  of  the  young  for  use  in  Pastors'  Train- 
ing Classes,  Societies  of  Christian   Endeavor,  Sunday  School,  or  Family. 

"I  have  for  years  felt  the  need  of  something  of  thii  sort  I  wish  the  Manual, 
might  be  wanted  a  widely  as  I  am  sure  it  is  neided.-1 — Josiah  Strong,  D.  D.y  auth  } 
"Our  Country." 


Chicago:         Flpminrr  U   RpUpII  Pn        wjwtorks 

'iS-l JO  Madison  Street.    1   iGlllllIU    ll.    AKVCll    UU.    30   L'nnm  Sfmmr*  hast 


Writings  of  Rev.  F.  B.  MEYER,  B.  A. 


Mr.  Meger  always  writes  to  edification-— C.  h.  SPURGEON. 


fl  0  6  t  J)  t)  .      Beloved— Hated— Exalted.     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 

In  the  present  volume  Mr.  Meyer  retells  with  skill  and  pathos  the 
old-world  story  of  the  Israelitish  youth  who  rose  through  pit  and  prison  to 
the  post  of  Premier  of  Egypt;  a  story  of  undying  interest  and  worth,  not 
only  as  a  true  tale  of  Eastern  romance,  but  as  a  unique  example  of  the 
value  of  piety,  purity  of  life  and  fidelity  in  service. 

IOTH  THOUSAND. 

b  r  a  i)  a  ltt  :      or,  The  Obedience  of  Faith.     Cloth,  ib  mo.,  $1.00. 


% 


A  book  we  would  very  heartily  commend  to  those  who  desire  to  make 
progress  in  Christian  life  and  experience;  each  will  find  it  helpful  and  sug- 
gestive, sending  new  light  upon  many  a  well-known  narrative. —  Christian 
Progress. 

The  contents  of  the  book  before  us  are  such  that  no  one  can  rise  from 
its  perusal  without  feeling  consciously  strengthened  in  God  and  inspired 
afresh  for  the  Godly  life. — Sunday-School  Chronicle. 

Really  a  very  beautiful  work,  which  will  be  read  with  delight  by 
many  a  fireside.  After  all,  this  home-like  treatment  of  Scripture  biography, 
with  the  object  of  bringing  out  the  spiritual  lessons,  is  amongst  the  highest 
and  most  profitable  studies. —  The  Freeman. 

I3TH  THOUSAND. 

%  B  r  a  1 1  :      A  Prince  with  God.     Cloth,  16  mo.,  $1.00. 
<3> 

Mr.  Meyer  has  great  descriptive  power.  He  can  tell  a  narrative 
well.  This  subject  in  his  hand  glows  with  life,  and  the  scenes  and  events  in 
the  history  of  his  hero  pass  vividly  before  you,  and  are  ever  being  used  to 
force  home  some  important  principle. — British  Messenger. 

With  a  keen  moral  insight,  and  a  deep  spiritual  sympathy,  he  de- 
scribes the  piety  and  weakness  of  the  best  beloved  of  the  Patriarchs. 
—  Christian  Leader. 

Exceedingly  good,  not  only  spiritual,  but  also  thoughtful,  fresh,  sug- 
gestive and  thoroughly  practical. — C.  H.  Spurgeon,  in  Sword  and  Trowel. 

From  first  to  last  the  book  is  richly  suggestive  and  spiritually  fruit- 
ful.— Word  a nd  Work. 

I5TH   THOUSAND, 

4*   I  i  \  a  t] :      and  the  Secret  of  his  Power.     Cloth,  ib  mo.,  $1 .00. 

The  leading  object  of  this  volume  is  to  show  that  Elijah's  God  is  our 
God;  and  how  a  like  dependence  may  be  ours  if  our  dependence  is  in  the 
living  God.  It  is"  encouraging  and  stimulating;  yet  full  of  solemn  warnings. 
Some  parts  are  grandly  written  and  of  thrilling  interest. — Footsteps  of 
'1  ruth. 

Good,  exceedingly  good  !  Mr.  Meyer  is  a  great  gain  to  the  armies  of 
Evangelical  truth;  for  his  tone,  spirit  and  aspirations  are  all  of  a  fine  Gospel 
sort. — Sword  and  Trowel. 

newyor^   ::   Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.  ~    Chicago. 


WRITINGS  OF  REV.  F.    B.  MEYER,  B.  A, 


'^-Pricb  btl   firC""     BxpoaUtOttt  of  the  Fir^t  Kpistle  of  Peter.    Cloth 
£■£ -  2  /6  mo.,  $1.00. 

We  doubt  whether  anj  work  h.is  appeared  since  the  time  of  Leighton, 

on  the  same  sn  1  >jot  t,  which  equals  the  one  before  as.    These  expoaitii 

one  <>f  the  richest  t-f  the  Epistles  are  brightly  and  beautifully  written  and 

infused  by  a  lofty  and  evangelical  Christian  spirit  —  /'rtmitivc  Methoatst. 


% 


2IST  THOUSAND. 

lie  Present  fccnscg  of  the  Dlcgeeb  Cifc-     cioth,  3*  mo. ,  50c. 

We  commend  the  book  as  one  that  cannot  fail  to  be  read  with  profit. 
> — Evangelical  ( 'hristendom. 

A  gem  and  brimful  of  spiritual  life. — Methodist  New  Connexion 
Magazine. 

20TH  THOUSAND. 

(jT^tistian  Citnng.     cioth,  32  mo.,  50c. 

Full  of  sweetness  and  light.  No  Christian  can  read  it  and  fail  to 
receive  stimulus  in  the  direction  whither  the  true-hearted  would  go. — Con- 
gregational Magazine. 

Special  stress  is  made  in  this  little  volume  on  the  practical  side  of  the 
Christian  life.  Thoughts  calculated  to  strengthen  and  inspire  in  the  per- 
formance  of  every-day  duties,  are  put  in  clear  and  simple  form.  —  Advance. 

They  prove  most  refreshing  reading;  and  for  the  culture  of  the  relig 
ous  life  we  can  recommend  nothing  better.  -Standard. 

19TH  THOUSAND. 

be  Sbcpherb  JJsalm.    Meditations  on  the  23d  Psalm,    cioth,  3* 

We  have  never  read  anything  so  charming  on  the  Twenty- third 
Psalm.  It  is  full  of  beauty  and  poetry.  Anything  that  this  gifted  in  1 
spiritual  author  writes  requires  no  recommendation,  as  he  is  well  known  t  i 
the  Christian  public. — Irtsh    Congregational  Ma.uztne. 

Mi.  Meyer  has  given  us  a  devotional  work  on  this  inspired  Psalm 
which  every  Christian  man  and  woman  should  not  only  read  but  carry  about 
in  ins  pocket  in  order  to  match  even  amid  the  busy  employment  of  life  an 
uplifting  and  elevating  thought.  This  little  book  is  w>rthits  weight  i<^ 
gold.—  Central  Baptist. 

Envelope  Series  of  Booklets,  by  Rev.  F.  B.  Meyer. 
The  Ch.imber;  of  the  King.      Wonls  of  Help   fat  Christian  Hie  1-ost  Chord  Found. 
With  Chris*  in  Separation.  (Wrls.  Why  Sign  the  Pic 

Seven  Rules  for  I  ).n  y  Living.  The  Filling  of  the  Holy  Spii  etof  Power. 

The  Secret  of  Vw  tory  over  Sin.    I  he  Stewardship  of  M   ney.     <  >ur  Bible  Rending. 
The  FirstStep  into  the  Blessed   Where  am  I  Wr  -   ret  of  Guidance. 

Life.  Youn^'  M.'n,  I N  n't  Drift!  I'cj.  c,  Perfect  I'ca^e. 

aoc.  per  dozen,  or  f  1.50  per  100. 
CHOICE  EXTRACTS  from  writings  of  F.  B.  Meyer,  48  pages,  5c.  per  copy;  i$c 

newyurk.  11    Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.  u     wcaqq 


s 


g+nd  far  a  list  of  contents  of  entire  series. 

A    LIBRARY    OF     CRITICAL    LEARNING 


LIUING    PAPERS 

ON   PRESENT  DAY  THEMES. 

A  SERIES  OFTEN  VOLUMES   COVERING  A  WIDE  RANGE  OF  SUBJECTS  ON 
CHRISTIAN   EVIDENCE,    DOCTRINE  AND   MORALS. 

We  wish  to  place  this  set  of  books  in  the  library  of  every  thoughtfcl 
minister. 

The  set  cannot  but  be  desired  as  soon  as  their  worth  is  known. 

The  subjects  treated  are  the  leading  topics  of  the  day,  and  the  writers 
are  acknowledged  authorities  on  the  particular  themes  discussed. 

Note  the  remarkable  list  of  names  included  among  the  contributors. 


Principal  Caibns, 

Ret.  C.  A.  Row, 

W.  G.  Blackie,  D.D.,  L.L.D., 

Prebendary  Row,  M.A., 

Ret.  Noah  Porter,  D.D., 

Canon  Rawlinson, 

8.  R.  Pattison,  F.G.S., 

Dr.  Friedrich  Pfaff, 

Dean  of  Canterbury, 

Henry  Wage,  D.D., 

Ret.  W.  F.  Wilkinson,  M . A., 

James  Leqoe,  LL.D., 

Ret.  W.  G.  Elmslie,  M.A., 

Dean  of  Chester, 

J.  Murray  Mitchell,  LL-D.. 

F.  Godet,  D.D., 

Eustace  P.  Conder,  M.A.,  D.D. 


Ret.  James  Iterach,  M.A., 

A.  H.  Sayce,  M.A., 

Ret.  J.  Radford  Thomson,  M.A., 

Ret.  William  Abthuk, 

Sib  W.  Muir, 

Ret.  A.  B.  Bruce,  D.D., 

Alexander  Macalister,  M.A.,  M.D 

Ret.  G.  F.  MacleabJD.D., 

Ret.  J.  Stoughton,  D.D., 

Ret.  R.  McCheyne  Edgar,  M.A.. 

Ret.  John  Cairns,  D.D., 

Sib  J.  William  Dawson,  F.R.8., 

Ret.  W.  S.  Lewis,  M.A., 

Ret.  John  Kelly, 

Rev.  M.  Kautmann,  M.A., 

^    "ON  GlBDLESTONE, 

**..  I  others. 


Can  you  in  any  other  shape  add  to  your  library  so  much  valuable 
material  with  so  small  an  expenditure? 

These  have  until  lately  been  sold  at  $1.25  per  vol.,  $12.50  per  set. 
The  price  has  now  been  reduced  to  $10.00  per  set,  and  we  make  the 
following 

Special  Offer,  viz. :  We  will  send  this  remarkable  set  of  books  to 
any  minister  for  the  special  net  price  of  $7.50  Per  Set. 


CHICAGO: 
r^S-iJO  Madison  Stret, 


-..  Flemiqg  H.  f^eVell  Co. 


NEW  YORK: 
30  Union  Square  East 


